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Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson has savaged\u00a0Rishi Sunak\u2019s new bid to stop young people from ever being able to buy cigarettes by changing the rules.<\/p>\n
Boris slammed the proposed ban which he dubbed “barmy”, as it means someone who was born on or after January 1, 2009 will never legally be allowed to buy tobacco.<\/p>\n
In his Mailplus column, he mocked the idea that police would spend time \u201con the legal enforcement of a nationwide ban on smoking\u201d rather than on \u201cother priorities like knife crime, \u00adsexual violence, county lines drugs gangs\u201d.<\/p>\n
If the proposed rule change goes ahead, the legal age for buying tobacco in England will go up one year annually\u00a0until it applies to the whole population.<\/p>\n
Rishi Sunak unveiled the unpopular plan at the annual Conservative party conference in Manchester this week.<\/p>\n
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Read more <\/strong> The smoking capitals of the UK as Rishi Sunak announces ban for next generation<\/strong><\/p>\n Mr Sunak said: \u201cI propose that in future we raise the smoking age by one year every year.<\/p>\n \u201cThat means a 14-year-old today will never legally be sold a cigarette and that they and their generation can grow up smoke free.\u201d<\/p>\n Smoking will not be criminalised and the phased approach means anyone who is old enough to buy cigarettes now will not be prevented from doing so.<\/p>\n However, the proposed rule change, following New Zealand with some of the strictest smoking laws in the world, sparked a fair backlash amongst fellow Tories.<\/p>\n Writing a\u00a0column for\u00a0Mail Plus, Boris Johnson questioned: \u201cChild A will be free to smoke like a chimney to the end of his days. Child B \u2014 born only a day later! \u2014 will be a criminal if he does.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/139\/590x\/secondary\/Rishi-4998723.jpg?r=1696618561198\")
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