Smoking ban for people born after 2009 backed by MPs

MPs have voted to ban cigarettes for anyone born after 2009.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's plan aims to create the UK's first smoke-free generation.

It means people who were born in 2009 and the years following won't ever be able to legally buy cigarettes in the UK if the bill becomes law.

The government says the ban will save thousands of lives - according to the NHS smoking is one of the biggest causes of death and illness in the UK.

If this bill that has been voted for by MPs becomes law, it will mean the UK will have some of the world's toughest anti-smoking laws.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill would stop anyone turning 15 this year from buying cigarettes.

If the bill becomes law, selling tobacco products will become illegal, rather than the act of smoking itself.

The law will not affect those who are allowed to buy cigarettes now.

The ban would also raise the legal age people can buy cigarettes by one year every year.

The aim is to prevent children and teenagers from taking up the habit.

The plan also aims to make vapes less appealing to children in the UK, with new restrictions on flavours, packaging and the sale of vapes.

The government says it will introduce £100 on-the-spot fines for shops in England and Wales which sell tobacco and vapes to underage people.

Cigarettes contains thousands of chemicals. Some of these are dangerous to humans and are breathed in through smoking.

Smoking is linked to serious illnesses, including cancer, lung disease, heart disease and strokes.

The government says it is still the number one preventable cause of death, disability and ill health, causing around 80,000 deaths per year across the UK, and costing the NHS and the economy an estimated £17bn every year.

According to the government, creating a "smoke-free generation" could prevent more than 470,000 cases of heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and other diseases by the end of the century.

Children's doctors also warn vaping may cause long-term damage to young people's lungs, hearts and brains.

It's currently illegal to smoke inside public buildings, in the workplace, on public transport and in a car while carrying somebody aged 18 or under. This is to combat the harmful effects of breathing in cigarette smoke.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill passed by 383 votes to 67, meaning it has a lot of support among MPs.

Health Secretary Victoria Atkins told MPs "there is no liberty in addiction" when defending the plan in parliament.

England's chief medical officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty said once people become addicted to smoking "their choice is taken away".

And Labour's shadow health and social secretary Wes Streeting confirmed that they would make sure the ban becomes law if they win the next general election.

But former Prime Minister Liz Truss told the BBC while it's important to protect children, people should be able to make their own decisions. She said: "We shouldn't be telling people not to smoke and I worry about where it will lead."

The new rules will apply to all shops selling cigarettes in the UK, but anyone buying them abroad would be able to bring them back as long as they were legally brought elsewhere.

The government aims to have the new system in force by 2027.