He said : “ Cigarette industry lobbyists will try to make this a debate between health and freedom , but this is the most dishonest debate you could possibly imagine .
“ The majority of smokers wish to quit but cannot because the cigarette industry has addicted them at a very young age and that is not freedom of choice .
“ If you are in favour of freedom , you absolutely are not in favour of this addictive industry which kills so many people .”
Shadow Health Minister
Shadow minister for health and social care Andrew Gwynne added that smoking ‘ blights communities right across the country ’, calling it a ‘ key driver ’ of health inequalities .
He said : “ Smoking is associated with almost every single indicator of deprivation and marginalisation .
“ If we want to build a fairer , happier and more prosperous future , a smokefree 2030 is a key component of that blueprint .”
And without ‘ radical action ’, she warned two million more UK smokers were estimated to die in the next 20 years .
She said : “ Smoking is a drain on our society , especially our poorest communities ; making smoking obsolete would lift millions of children and adults out of poverty .”
Daniel Poulter MP
Also speaking at the launch event was Tory MP Daniel Poulter , who said tobacco dependency stripped smokers of their free will and said we had ‘ a duty as a country ’ to eliminate one of the biggest killers .
He said : “ Today ’ s report contains a number of important measures and recommendations which could make a transformative change to people ’ s lives … and they will save lives .
“ I very much hope the government will implement this report to create a smokefree world for our children and grand-children .”
Mary Foy MP
Labour MP Mary Foy , the vice chair on the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health , said cigarettes were the only legal product which ‘ killed up to two out of three ’ of its users .
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This is a truly great day for vaping advocates and marks another huge step forward for the tobacco harm reduction movement .
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