Smokefree UK

Three supporters holding placards that read 'Smokefree UK'
Cancers caused by smoking in the UK have reached an all-time high of 160 cases every day. With bold action, we could prevent thousands of cancer deaths from tobacco each year. Join us in campaigning for a better future for all.  

Help end cancers caused by smoking

The new UK Government has committed to reintroducing legislation to help prevent future generations from ever taking up smoking by raising the age of sale of tobacco.

Now, we want to see this legislation passed and implemented across the UK. Will you join us? 

I'll support

When governments take action, smoking rates go down

Following decades of government action, fewer people in the UK are smoking than ever before, but smoking is still the biggest cause of cancer and death in the UK. Not long ago the UK had smoke-filled pubs and workplaces, tobacco advertising and branded packs. Smoking rates have come down with government action in the past and government action will be essential for rates to continue coming down in the future. That’s why we launched our Smokefree UK campaign in July 2022.  

With the help of supporters from across the UK, we’ve campaigned for more funding to help people quit smoking – and won – with the previous UK Government more than doubling the funding for local stop smoking services in England. We’ll need to make sure that this funding is adequate, sustainable, and secured for as long as it takes to achieve a smokefree UK. But now, we want to help prevent future generations from ever becoming addicted to tobacco in the first place. 

Preventing young people from starting smoking is key to ending cancers caused by smoking. That's why ‘stopping the start’ by raising the age of sale of tobacco has been an important call of our Smokefree UK campaign.

Campaigner holding a sign that reads 'Help end cancers caused by smoking'

The biggest cause of cancer has no place in our future

In May, the snap general election brought a disappointing halt to legislation which would raise the age of sale to help create the first ever smokefree generation. That’s why, in the recent King’s Speech, we were thrilled to hear the new UK Government commit to reintroducing the policy in a new Tobacco and Vapes Bill.  

If implemented, this legislation would ensure that people born on or after 1 January 2009 would not legally be able to be sold tobacco in their lifetime. This would be achieved by progressively raising the legal age of sale of tobacco by one year every year. It wouldn’t prevent anyone born before that date, including people who can already legally smoke, from being sold tobacco in future.  

There is no safe way to use tobacco, and all tobacco products can cause cancer. That’s why it’s important that the legislation applies to all types of tobacco products. 

We support this legislation and it is critical to our shared ambition to help prevent 20,000 cancer deaths a year by 2040.  Now, we want to make sure that it is passed in UK Parliament and implemented effectively and swiftly, in all four nations of the UK.

Campaigning to help end cancers caused by smoking

Nothing would have a bigger impact on reducing the number of preventable deaths in the UK than ending smoking. That’s why, during the 2024 general election, as one of our five pledges for longer, better lives, we called on all political parties to commit to help end cancers caused by smoking, including by raising the age of sale of tobacco, with over 21,000 campaigners signing an open letter asking party leaders to back our calls. 

We know that the UK public, and politicians from across the political spectrum strongly support raising the age of sale of tobacco to help create a smokefree generation – a long-term decision, for longer, better lives. This is one of the biggest opportunities we have had to prevent cancer in over a decade. Let's make history, together. 

Campaigners at Westminster, waving

Our first campaign win 

In 2023, nearly 14,000 campaigners signed our petition to former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, asking him to provide more funding to help people quit smoking. In the autumn of that year, we handed-in this petition to 10 Downing Street.  

Just a month later, Rishi Sunak’s Government announced that it would increase funding for the measures and services that help people quit smoking. This nearly doubled the funding available for local stop smoking services to support a total of around 360,000 people a year to quit smoking. Additional funding was also given to stop smoking campaigns that help encourage people who smoke to quit and signpost them to support available. This was a big win for the Smokefree UK campaign. Learn more about the petition.

Our policy calls 

 

Stop the Start

Almost 9 in 10 people who smoke report starting smoking before the age of 21. 

We support the UK Government’s proposed legislation to progressively raise the age of sale of tobacco by one year every year to help create a smokefree generation. If implemented, this policy could prevent future generations from ever taking up smoking – the biggest cause of cancer in the UK. 

Start the Stop 

Protecting people from starting smoking is not enough on its own. Most people who smoke have tried to quit, but smoking is an addiction, and they need support to do so. That’s why public health campaigns and stop smoking services need funding to help people who currently smoke to stop.  

We will continue to ensure that funding for these measures and services is sufficient, sustainable and goes to the places that need it the most across the country. 

Behind the smoking statistics are real people. Lynne tells her story.

Lynne Phillips, Campaigns Ambassador

My father suffered with emphysema, my mother's two sisters both died of lung cancer, my father's brothers died of lung cancer ...all caused by smoking... the aim to make the UK smokefree is an amazing target.

- Lynne Phillips, Campaigns Ambassador