Churchill would have backed Sunak’s smoking ban, says Health Secretary
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Sir Winston Churchill is thought to have enjoyed 160,000 cigars during his illustrious life – but that would not have stopped him backing Rishi Sunak’s smoking ban, the Health Secretary has claimed.
As a Tory rebellion looms over plans that would effectively ban anyone now aged 14 or younger from ever buying tobacco, Victoria Atkins has insisted that the wartime prime minister and noted bon viveur would approve of the measure.
Writing in The Telegraph, she said: “Is this policy Conservative, some have asked? I profoundly believe it is. In doing so I draw inspiration from the words of a brilliant former Daily Telegraph correspondent, who became our greatest prime minister.
“I am referring, of course, to Winston Churchill, who once wrote of his relief from passing from ‘the tossing sea of Cause and Theory to the firm ground of Result and Fact’.
Tough decisions to protect future generations
She added: “One of the foundations of the Conservative Party is that we take tough decisions to protect future generations. That applies to the burdens of debt repayments and growing the economy. It should apply to addiction too.”
Her remarks come as Mr Sunak faces the prospect of “up to 100 MPs” as well as several senior ministers refusing to back his legislation, which will be debated in the Commons on Tuesday.
The Prime Minister may have to rely on Labour’s support to get the measure through Parliament.
Under the plans, the legal age at which people can purchase cigarettes will rise annually from the age of 18. Disposable vapes will also be banned outright, while reusable ones will be limited to four flavours.
Critics have attacked the policy as an extension of the nanny state, with Boris Johnson describing it as “absolutely nuts” .
“When the party of Winston Churchill wants to ban cigars, donnez-moi un break,” Mr Johnson said this week.
Meanwhile, Ms Atkins’ claims have been flatly rejected by Churchill’s grandson, Lord Soames, who told The Telegraph he “certainly wouldn’t have approved” of the measure.
“Victoria Atkins is a great friend and a very competent minister but with the greatest respect to her, I’m afraid they’ve got it very wrong on this,” he said.
“To bring my grandfather into it is ridiculous. We all know what the risks are [of smoking] and there is no need to do this.”
Lord Roberts, the renowned historian and Tory peer, said that Churchill, who died in 1965 at the age of 90, is estimated to have smoked 160,000 cigars in his life.
He pointed out that although he would “rarely be without one” particularly in public, the habit was perhaps not as bad for his health as one might think, given that Churchill did not inhale and did not even always puff on them.
“Quite a lot of the time they were just lit, they were political props as much as something that he was addicted to,” Lord Roberts said.
