Under Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Britain’s House of Commons passed a new law that will ultimately lead to banning cigarette sales–and possible tobacco smoking–throughout the country, Politico reports.
While the liberal Labour Party members supported the move, enough members of Sunak’s conservative coalition jumped ship to pass the legislation. “What’s his legacy going to be? Banning smoking?” a disgruntled Tory grumbled. “Is that really how he wants to be remembered?”
Not an outright ban, the new law would make it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born after January 1st, 2009–a date that will not change each year, but would bar anyone currently under the age of 15 from ever buying cigarettes. Roughly one in eight people in the UK smoke, a slightly higher rate than in the United States.