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Google PlayUK Health Secretary Thérèse Coffey has been labeled “clueless” after it emerged the government could U-turn over its Tobacco Control Plan for the end of the year.
Speaking to Sky News, the cigar-loving minister said she was “not aware” if Prime Minister Liz Truss would stick to the plan to get adult smoking below 5% by 2030.
The 50-year-old MP, who was infamously snapped puffing on a cigar during a party in 2015, gave no indication as to whether the new Conservative government would stick to the proposal, following the changes in administration.
Serving as Deputy Prime Minister, Coffey told Sky News that the priority would be on the ABCD—ambulances, backlog, care, doctors and dentists—promise. “I’m not aware any target has been scrapped,” she said. “My focus right now is the ABCD.”
Wes Streeting, Labour Shadow Health Secretary, described the response as “clueless and hopeless”, saying: “The Health Secretary is ‘unaware’ of a major plank of her own government’s health policy because she spends little time in her own department and most of her time firefighting in Number 10.”
Prohibiting smoking in public outdoor areas, such as beer gardens, and slowly increasing the age to buy tobacco have been proposed as part of the pledge.
“We are currently considering the wide range of recommendations set out in the Khan review and how best to take these forward,” a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said. “We will set out our next steps for the plan in due course.”
