Louise Brown, Clinical Lead for Lung Cancer at Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance smiling and wearing glasses and a patterned top.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill has been granted Royal Assent this week (29 April 2026), delivering a historic step towards a smoke-free UK and protecting people from the harms of tobacco by making it illegal to sell tobacco to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009.

This world-leading legislation means today’s children will never legally be sold cigarettes, breaking the cycle of addiction and disadvantage that has persisted for decades.

Louise Brown, Clinical Lead for Lung Cancer at Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance, has been reacting to the news.

She said: “Smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer and Greater Manchester has one of the highest rates of lung cancer in the UK so we welcome the new Tobacco and Vapes Bill which makes it illegal in the UK to sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009.

“This is a landmark moment to help protect future generations from taking up smoking and will ultimately mean less people go onto develop lung cancer.
 
“Smoking causes significant ill health, and is largely responsible for the gap in life expectancy between those most and least deprived in our region. This is a positive step forward to close that gap and help reduce health inequalities.
 
“We remain committed to supporting people affected by smoking and hope this legislation will help prevent children being exposed to this highly addictive killer in the future.”
 
Read more about the new bill on the Department for Health and Social Care website.