It is Rishi Sunak's first party conference as prime minister and Conservative leader since taking office in October last year. Photo: Toby Melville/Reuters/archive
United Kingdom
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wants to ban younger generations from buying cigarettes, he said on the last day of the Conservative Party conference Wednesday, according to Reuters. “I propose that in future we raise the smoking age by one year each year. This means that those who are 14 years old today will never legally be able to buy a cigarette,” Sunak said. This would make the UK’s policy on cigarettes one of the tightest in the world, potentially phasing out smoking among young people as early as 2040. Sunak said smoking costs Britain’s health service £17 billion. He believes cancer deaths in Britain could fall by a quarter if the population stops smoking. /ritzau/Reuters