Tory divisions exposed as Sunak smoking ban moves a step closer

Flagship bill passes but Badenoch and Truss lead sizeable revolt

- Eleni Courea 

A ban on smoking for future generations moved a step closer last night but Rishi Sunak suffered a blow to his authority after dozens of Conservative MPs voted against it.

The House of Commons voted by 383 to 67 in favour of the prime minister’s plan to make it illegal for anyone born in 2009 or later to buy tobacco products in the UK.

The legislation, which would in effect ban smoking for future generations by raising the legal age every year, is seen by Sunak’s allies as a key part of his political legacy.

However, the result of a vote on one of Sunak’s high-profile policies – which saw the potential future leadership contender Kemi Badenoch and five other ministers join 51 more Tory MPs to vote against – underlined the depth of division within the party.

Labour has thrown its weight behind the plan, which was unveiled at Tory party conference in October, ensuring that it sailed through the Commons. More than 100 Tory MPs abstained, although some of them will have been absent from the Commons for unrelated reasons .

Badenoch, the business secretary, was the only cabinet minister to vote against the legislation. She said beforehand she had “significant concerns” because the legislation meant that “people born a day apart will have permanently different rights”.

She told LBC after the vote: “I don’t think the end justifies the means. The principle I was against was treating adults differently, and how that would be enforced. It didn’t feel right to me.”