Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

I also very much support the amendment. All of the briefing we have had from ASH and others makes the situation clear. We do not have the facts and figures. If we have those in a year’s time, we may want to extend it a bit longer than that. However, initially, it will provide a helpful check on what will have been achieved at that stage. Of all the figures on the age at which you start smoking and the damage it does to you, the one that sticks in my mind is that, if you start smoking before the age of 15, your risk of lung cancer is at least doubled. That alone should make us think twice, if not four times, about any of these areas. I backed the rise in the age for purchasing tobacco from 16 to 18 so I very much support the amendment.