Smoking Ban, ‘Conversion Therapy,’ and Updated Mental Health Act Outlined in King’s Speech

The state opening of Parliament saw more than 40 bills mentioned in the King’s Speech, although only three bills relating directly to health policy were outlined in the Labour government’s accompanying brief. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer wants to use his commanding majority of 172 to push through an eventual smoking ban, together with a bill to reform the Mental Health Act. An existing bill put forward by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to gradually ban the sale of cigarettes and tobacco products, including vapes, will be taken forward by Labour, as pledged in the party’s manifesto. The bill aims to introduce a progressive smoking ban by annually increasing the age at which people can legally buy cigarettes by one year at a time, meaning that children born on or after Jan. 1 2009, now aged 15 or under, will never legally be able to buy tobacco....