Rishi Sunak has defended his plan to gradually ban the sale of tobacco after his predecessor claimed he was extending the nanny state.
Liz Truss said the proposal which would effectively prevent the sale of cigarettes to anyone born on or after January 1 2009 was “profoundly unconservative.”
She said it would be “absurd” to be in a situation “where adults enjoy different rights based on their birthdate.”
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The Prime Minister has promised MPs a “free vote” on the plan, calling it a “matter of conscience” for parliamentarians.
He told broadcasters on Monday: “I don’t think there’s anything unconservative about caring about our children’s health.
“But on smoking, there’s been a long tradition in Parliament of these being free votes, which aren’t party political, people will have their own held views on that, that’s the same as it’s been in the past.
“So I respect that some people will disagree with me on this but I think this is the right long-term thing for our country. Smoking causes one in four cancer deaths. It’s responsible for a hospital admission every minute.
“And if we don’t do something about it, hundreds of thousands of people will die in the coming years and I think that we do have a chance to do something about it.”
The announcement came as the Prime Minister confirmed plans to ban disposable vapes, following a UK-wide consultation.
In Scotland, 82.3% supported restrictions on single-use vapes, while 73.4% favoured an outright ban.
The Scottish Government has said they will the back measures, using a Legislative Consent Motion to allow Westminster to legislate in Scotland. However, the disposables ban will need separate legislation in the Scottish Parliament.
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Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told journalists the Prime Minister was only allowing his MPs a free vote on this to avoid a rebellion.
He told journalists: “I’ve also got concerns that apparently the Prime Minister is going to give his MPs a free vote because he doesn’t think that he’s able to hold his own team together.
“Luckily the Labour Party will always act in the national interest.
"We will vote for it and so this measure will go through. It’ll only go through because the Labour party is the grown-up in the room and is prepared to act in the national interest and vote for this important measure.”
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