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** 5 January 2024
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** UK
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** Liz Truss and right-wing Tory MPs 'out of touch' for trying to derail smoking ban plans (#1)
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** Rishi Sunak indicates he will not call election until second half of 2024 (#2)
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** SNP ministers consider 'tax on shopping' by reintroducing public health levy on supermarkets (#3)
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** Link of the week
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** Smoking in Pregnancy Challenge Group manifesto for smokefree beginnings (#4)
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** UK
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** Liz Truss and right-wing Tory MPs 'out of touch' for trying to derail smoking ban plans

Right-wing Tories trying to derail Rishi Sunak’s plans to create a smoke free generation have been warned they are “out of touch”.

Health campaigners are urging the PM to resist pressure from Tory critics like Liz Truss and Boris Johnson who oppose the policy. MPs will soon vote on legislation to raise the legal age of buying tobacco by one year every year so that a 14-year-old today will never be able to legally buy cigarettes. But Mr Sunak is facing disquiet from some in his own party after New Zealand said it would repeal its world-leading anti-smoking laws.

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), said the country’s decision to roll back its laws was “purely political”. “It was not because the policy was opposed. Both there and here, the policy has support from most of the public and parliamentarians.”

She said those opposing Mr Sunak’s plan are “making a lot of noise and wind but there is strong cross-party support and they’re not going to win. The usual suspects on the Conservative benches urging him to drop the policy are a tiny minority out of touch with the public they are supposed to represent,” she said.

“There has been a complete culture change in people’s attitudes to smoking and people like Liz Truss need to catch on.” Disgraced ex-PM Ms Truss has been vocal about her opposition to the policy, saying the Tories need to “stop banning things”, while Mr Johnson said: "Let's stop telling people what to do."

Ms Arnott said the public “overwhelmingly supports” the move. A YouGov poll carried out for the public health charity in November found 67% of people in England back the PM’s plan to raise the smoking age. Tory voters came out on top, with 74% of those who intend to vote Conservative at the next election backing it, followed by 72% of those intending to vote Labour and 65% of those intending to vote Lib Dem.
A spokeswoman for the PM said the government’s position was “unchanged” after New Zealand said it was rolling back its laws at the end of November.

Source: The Mirror, 4 January 2024
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** Rishi Sunak indicates he will not call election until second half of 2024

Rishi Sunak has given his strongest indication yet that he will not call a general election until the second half of 2024, puncturing Labour hopes that it could come as early as the spring.

The prime minister told broadcasters on Thursday it was his “working assumption” the vote would be called in the latter part of the year, giving him more time to try to reverse the Conservatives’ deficit in the polls. The date of the election is solely in his hands after the repeal of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act in 2022.

“My working assumption is we’ll have a general election in the second half of this year and in the meantime I’ve got lots that I want to get on with,” he said during a visit to Nottinghamshire.

While he refused to rule out calling a May election, as has been predicted by senior Labour figures, Sunak repeated his intention to hold it in the second part of the year.

Sunak must call an election by late January 2025, and has said on several occasions he intends to do so this year.

However, the prime minister has not previously been specific about when he planned to do so, leading to speculation it could either be timed to coincide with local elections in May or delayed until the autumn, when MPs and voters return from summer holidays.

Source: The Guardian, 4 January 2024
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** SNP ministers consider 'tax on shopping' by reintroducing public health levy on supermarkets

SNP ministers are considering reintroducing a controversial health levy on retail giants that sell tobacco and alcohol.

The Scottish Government plan - which was previously enforced from 2012 to 2015 - makes larger shops and supermarkets pay extra through a "public health supplement" added to business rates.

The policy previously raised £95 million for the taxpayer before it ended.
The public health supplement was previously introduced by then finance secretary John Swinney in 2012.

It ran for a fixed three-year period despite opposition from retailers.
Around 240 shops were forced to pay the levy.

Source: The Daily Record, 4 January 2024
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** Link of the week
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** Smoking in Pregnancy Challenge Group manifesto for smokefree beginnings

Before Christmas, the Smoking in Pregnancy Challenge Group published it’s ‘manifesto for smokefree beginnings’. The report reflected on the progress made in reducing maternal smoking rates over the last decade and recommended a number of key actions to deliver a smokefree start for every child.
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ASH Daily News is a digest of published news on smoking-related topics. ASH is not responsible for the content of external websites. ASH does not necessarily endorse the material contained in this bulletin.

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