We welcome the new Government's commitment to reintroduce measures to create a smokefree generation in today's King's Speech - the first since the General Election.
The King's Speech is part of the State Opening of Parliament and was an opportunity for the new Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, to set out his Government's agenda.
The Government outlined its ambition to foster a decade of national renewal in today’s speech, with economic growth prioritised.
Landmark smoking legislation
The Government’s commitment to reintroduce the Tobacco and Vapes Bill was among the headline announcements, after it failed to pass in the last Parliament.
If reintroduced in full, the Bill will raise the age of sale of tobacco products by one year each year. This means that anyone born after 1 January 2009 (turning 14 this year or younger) will never legally be sold cigarettes. It will also ban the branding and advertisement of vapes to appeal to children.
Between six and seven million adults in the UK smoke cigarettes, and it’s estimated that at least 15,000 deaths in the UK each year from heart and circulatory disease can be attributed to smoking.
We continue to welcome and strongly support the measures. The Bill now needs to be brought in swiftly and without further delays.
Dr Charmaine Griffiths, our Chief Executive, said: "Today's commitment to raise the age of sale of cigarettes will help to save countless lives and protect thousands of hearts for generations to come. Smoking is still a major cause of heart and circulatory disease, so we urge the new Government to bring in this landmark legislation as quickly as possible – there is no time to waste.”
A prevention-first approach
We welcome plans to implement the delayed ban on junk food advertising before the 9pm watershed and online. This will help protect young people from advertisements of unhealthy foods.
Previous Government estimates found that TV restrictions, and similar measures online, could remove up to 7.2 billion calories from children’s diets every year in the UK.
Reducing childhood obesity and improving everyone’s healthy life expectancy cannot be done without making our everyday food healthier. We’d now urge the Government to go further with restrictions on the advertising of unhealthy food, including in outdoor spaces.
Dr Griffiths added: “We welcome the Government’s pledge to improve the health of our young people by bringing in delayed bans to junk food advertising. Addressing this most urgent challenge will be vital to support the Government’s plans for the NHS and reducing inequality.”
A previous commitment to a Clean Air Act was not mentioned in the speech today. This is a missed opportunity to reduce the amount of pollution in the UK’s air. Pollution is an invisible but deadly problem, and a significant risk factor for heart and circulatory diseases in the UK.
Heart care crisis
It was welcome to hear the Government’s commitment to reduce NHS waiting times, and the legislation outlined today is a promising first step to prevent further sickness from cardiovascular disease.
But to fix this historic heart crisis, we want to see a heart disease action plan from the new Government with three areas of focus: better preventing heart disease and stroke, making sure people get heart treatment in time, and supercharging cardiovascular research.
Health is wealth, and the economic focus of the speech mirrors the new Health Secretary’s goal to improve healthcare to boost the nation's growth. Cardiovascular disease remains one of the UK’s biggest killers and is a significant contributor to economic inactivity and reduced workforce.
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