Nigel Farage has said he is "sick to death of Government interfering in our everyday lives" as a proposed law change to raise the smoking age to 21 could be implemented following a review.
The former chief executive of charity Barnado's, Javed Khan, carried out the review, which was commissioned by Health Secretary Sajid Javid, following pressures to curb smoking amongst under 30s.
A study revealed that an extra 600,000 under-30s took up smoking over the pandemic, a rise of 25 percent.
Nigel Farage
GB News
Raising the smoking age to 21 could be implemented
Jonathan Brady
Nigel Farage has said he is "sick to death of Government interfering in our everyday lives" as a proposed law change to raise the smoking age to 21 could be implemented following a review.
Mr Khan emphasised the importance of imminent action from the Government, in order to cut smokers to just five percent of the population by 2030, while he also ruled out rising the age to buy cigarettes from 18.
Speaking about the subject on GB News, Nigel questioned whether such Government interferences will “do any good” .
He said: “I’m one of those people who is sick to death of Government interfering in our everyday lives and telling us what we can and can’t do.
“And tomorrow there is going to be a proposed change to the law after yet another document has been done on smoking, yes the proposal will come tomorrow.
“That nobody should be allowed to buy cigarettes until at least the age of 21 and the aim is to make the country smoke free by 2030.”
He continued: “This is following very much in the pattern of New Zealand, where anybody born in recent years will never ever legally be allowed to buy cigarettes.
“Oh drugs and cocaine will be no problem at all, they're not legal but no one cares.
“Do we really need Government interference to this level? Does it do any good?
“I can’t stand it, I hate the modern-day puritans but maybe, just maybe there is a health argument in favour of it.”