Smoking ban: DUP MPs vote against proposed new law

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By Enda McClafferty

BBC News NI political editor

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MPs have voted against a plan to ban anyone in the UK born after 2009 from buying cigarettes, but it is still on course to become law.

The measures, championed by Rishi Sunak, survived despite opposition from several leading Tory figures - including two ex-prime ministers.

The DUP said it planned to work to improve the bill.

DUP MP Sammy Wilson raised concerns about how it will be implemented.

Alliance's Stephen Farry was the only Northern Ireland MP who voted in favour of the ban.

The government has said the move will still apply in Northern Ireland.

It will require approval from the Northern Ireland Assembly by the passing of what is known as a legislative consent motion.

We heard from Sammy Wilson in the chamber yesterday raising concerns about how this was going to be implemented, concerns about retailers and that he thought this legislation wasn't thought through.

That's why he was making it very clear that he was going to be opposing this ban - as did the other six DUP MPs.

The DUP insists it's going to work on it by way of amendments as it progresses through parliament to try and tighten it up and make it more workable.

As for the two SDLP MPs, Colum Eastwood and Claire Hanna, I don't think they were in the chamber yesterday, although it is understood they support the ban.

DUP MP Ian Paisley raised concerns about whether the Windsor Framework would stop the ban coming into law in Northern Ireland, but Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said it was the government's intention that it would.

The Northern Ireland Executive and Health Minister Robin Swann have made it very clear they support the ban coming into force here.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill passed by 383 votes to 67 in the Commons.

Health Secretary Victoria Atkins told MPs "there is no liberty in addiction" as she defended the plans.

If they become law, the UK's smoking laws will be among the strictest in the world.

The UK's approach is thought to have been inspired by a similar law in New Zealand, which was later repealed after a change in government.

In the Commons, DUP MP Ian Paisley asked for a despatch box guarantee that the law would apply equally to all parts of the UK.

"I have raised a number of concerns about the fact that because we have a land border with the European Union, the EU will insist, under the Windsor Framework, that it can block the implementation of the bill in Northern Ireland," he said.

Ms Atkins replied: "If he [Mr Paisley] or his colleagues in Belfast have concerns that there may be ways in which it could somehow be circumnavigated, we will listen carefully, but I should be clear that our intention is that the bill applies to all children and young people across the UK."

The government said it was a UK-wide bill and the Windsor Framework did not affect Northern Ireland's ability to introduce any of the measures in the bill.

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