He said: “Cigarette lobbyists will try to make this a debate between health and freedom. It’s the most dishonest conversation you can imagine. “Most people who smoke want to quit, but they can not because the cigarette industry has become addicted at a very young age. They can not. This is not freedom of choice. “Smoking causes rapid ill health in people who are close to a smoker. They do not choose to smoke, but they still suffer the damage it causes. This is not freedom of choice. “The baby in the womb of a pregnant woman who smokes does not choose to smoke. “If you are for freedom, you are not at all for this addictive industry that kills so many people.”
Campaigners praise the “ambitious” report
Deborah Arnott, executive director of Action on Smoking and Health, said the report was “ambitious” and said the poll suggested the public was in favor of stronger government intervention in the fight against smoking. “Only by making smoking obsolete can the government accomplish its mission of balancing health and prosperity,” he said. Michelle Mitchell, CEO of Cancer Research UK, said: “Smoking is the leading cause of cancer, with one in four deaths from all cancers being estimated to be due to smoking in the UK. The scale of the issue is unquestionable, but England remains off track to become non-smoking by 2030. And for the poorest, this will not be achieved until the mid-2040s.
