A report calling for all political parties to back a fully funded strategy to make smoking obsolete within 20 years has been launched by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health.

With smoking still claiming 74,000 lives annually and costing England a staggering £43.7bn a year, the report – A Roadmap to a Smokefree Country – has set out an ambitious plan to cut the number of smokers by 2m within this parliament and put the UK on track for a smokefree future.

Bob Blackman, co-chair of the APPG, said, "Smoking remains the number one cause of preventable death, costing lives and draining public finances. No government can afford to overlook the devastating impact of smoking on our economy and the NHS. This Report sets out a comprehensive plan that accelerate our progress to a smokefree UK. Further delay comes at too great a cost."

Building on the progress of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, the report has outlined a comprehensive roadmap to support the UK’s 6m smokers in quitting. At its core is a proposed ‘polluter pays’ levy, which would require Big Tobacco – who bring in a staggering estimated £900m in annual profits – to contribute £700m annually to fund initiatives that reduce smoking rates and reduce the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest as well as easing the financial burden on taxpayers. The amount required from Big Tobacco would taper as tobacco consumption falls.

Other key recommendations include swift action to curb youth vaping by using new powers in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill to restrict marketing of vapes in ways that appeal to children and a call to regulate all tobacco products as strictly as cigarette laws.

Mary Foy, co-chair of the APPG, said, “The UK is set to introduce world-leading new laws that will protect future generations from the enormous harms of smoking, but we cannot ignore the millions of people still trapped by addiction. The only people who benefit from smoking is the tobacco industry who generate huge profits from peddling misery and illness. It’s time for them to pay for the damage they cause.”

Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of The King’s Fund, who contributed the foreword to the report, added, “Tackling smoking can be a blueprint for broader prevention efforts – combining national legislation with local support to drive real change. With the right approach, this government now has the chance to achieve what once seemed impossible: a society free from the harms of tobacco. And the chance to create a nation of people who can live longer and healthier lives, by preventing, diagnosing and treating illnesses earlier.”

The report has also called for a £97m annual investment in targeted interventions to support disadvantaged communities – unlocking £3.6bn of savings to public finances and delivering an £18.9bn boost to the UK economy over the next five years. While the wealthiest are set to reach less than 5 per cent smoking rates this year, the most deprived areas will not achieve this until 2050 unless urgent action is taken.

These new recommendations emphasise the urgent need for a strategic, targeted approach to closing the health gap, accelerating progress toward a smokefree future, and securing the long-term sustainability of the NHS.

The proposed new measures include:

  • Slash smoking numbers by two million in five years
  • Make Big Tobacco pay
  • Targeted support for disadvantaged communities
  • Ban cigarette filters
  • Maximise the impact of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill
  • Introduce new mandatory warnings
  • Keep driving down the affordability of tobacco
  • Continue to be a world leader in tobacco control through funding global adoption of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco

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