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A part of Britain may survive keir starmerflagship of smoking ban because of a key post-brexit agreement with European UnionA minister has accepted.
Government wants to ban smoking for an entire generationPotentially millions of lives could be saved By ensuring that no one currently 15 years of age or younger will ever be able to legally purchase cigarettes.
By whom were the proposals first made? Rishi Sunak But was abandoned before the 2024 general elections. Labor has enthusiastically supported the plan since coming to power last summer.
But now, Asked for guarantees that this would apply to Northern Ireland as well as England, Wales and Scotland. A minister can only say that it was the “intention” of the government.
It is like this There have been warnings that the smoking ban risks breaching another key part of the law, the Windsor Framework Agreement with the EU.
It is designed to deal with the post-Brexit problem of what to do at the border northern ireland and the Republic of Ireland, the site of several atrocities during the Troubles, amid fears that the so-called ‘hard border’ will lead to checkpoints that risk becoming hotbeds of future attacks.
To avoid this the UK and EU agreed to a system whereby, when it comes to goods, NI aligns with EU laws.
Earlier this year, former Justice Secretary Sir robert buckland but raised the alarm smoking banHaving said that, because it demands that goods be treated the same as they would be in the EU, the law requires that tobacco remain legal for adults over 18 in NI.
But the government bill would criminalize its sale to anyone born after 2009 across the UK, including NI.
At the time Sir Robert said: “The right to buy legal goods like tobacco is protected under the Windsor Framework and the Good Friday Agreement. Take that away, and the Government faces a serious legal defeat.
“If the bill applies to Northern Ireland, we are in breach of EU law. If it does not, we will fragment the UK internal market. Either way, we are in breach of the treaty we signed last year.”
He also warned that if the Labor Minister continued to push the bill as it was, “we’re going straight to the courts”.
“The government must stop. Either negotiate exemptions… or remove Northern Ireland from the scope of the bill,” he said.
Asked in the Commons for assurances from Shadow Minister Mike Wood that the ban will apply in NI and that he has confirmed it with the EU, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Hilary Benn responded: “It is certainly the Government’s intention that the ban will apply in Northern Ireland, because I think it is very important that young people across the United Kingdom are protected in the way the Bill seeks to do.”
Shopkeepers found selling goods to anyone under age will be issued with an on-the-spot fine of £200.
The law includes a complete ban on vape advertising and sponsorship, including displays seen by children and youth on buses, in cinemas and in shop windows, bringing them into line with tobacco restrictions.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting Has enthusiastically supported a plan to create a “smoke-free generation” by gradually raising the age for purchasing tobacco, arguing that “there is no freedom in addiction”.