I beg to move,

That leave be given to bring in a Bill to raise the minimum age of sale of tobacco and tobacco products from 16 years to 18 years.

I am delighted to have an opportunity to present this Bill. I believe that it is an extremely important measure, which the Government should implement if we are serious about reducing smoking in this country, particularly among younger people. The stimulus for the Bill came in 2004, when the Government published their white paper "Choosing health: making healthier choices easier". The White Paper contained a chapter dedicated to the reduction of smoking through a number of different initiatives, none of which included raising the age at which people could buy tobacco. I found that something of a mystery at the time, especially in the light of the BBC's 2004 Healthier Britain survey, which revealed that 80 per cent. of the public—particularly those aged between 18 and 24—supported such a move.

Since then, I tabled two early-day motions during the last two parliamentary Sessions proposing such a measure. My early-day motion 226, which I tabled in May, has already attracted well over 50 signatures in this Session from Members in all parts of the House. It states that this House calls on the Government to give serious consideration to raising the minimum age of sales of tobacco from 16 to 18 years to bring it in line with sales of alcohol. I urge all Members who have not already signed it to do so.

My main reason for introducing this Bill—other than its obvious beneficial impact in terms of preventing youngsters from smoking—is that in the past couple of years the Government have made great strides in the age-barring of many other products. For example, under the terms of the Gambling Act 2005, the use of many gaming machines will be restricted to over-18-year-old players. Through the Violent Crime Reduction Bill, the Government intend to raise to 18 the age of sale of airguns and dangerous knives. Such measures doubtless enjoy popular support, so it is common sense to implement a similar measure in respect of tobacco. Doing so would show unequivocally that this Government do not condone young people smoking to the same extent that they do not condone young people drinking.

My Bill would not be a world first. A number of European countries—including Sweden, Ireland, Finland, Iceland, Malta, Norway and Poland—have already introduced such a measure. North of the border, Scotland is considering implementing such a measure through the Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005, thanks to the tabling of an Amendment by my Scottish Labour parliamentary colleague, Mr. Duncan McNeil, the MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde. So in effect, we would be following in the footsteps of some of our enlightened European colleagues.

Of course, my Bill would not totally stop young people smoking, but it would impact on the number who become smokers in their teenage years, which is when some 80 per cent. of smokers begin smoking. The best example of the impact of such a measure can be seen on the island of Guernsey, where the age of sale was raised to 18 as long ago as 1997. Before then, the number of young smokers in Guernsey was roughly the same, as a percentage, as in the rest of the UK. But by 2003, thanks primarily to that measure and to the setting up of an appropriately named organisation, GASP—the Guernsey Adolescent Smoke-free Project—the number of young people reporting that they smoked had reduced by half. Now, nearly twice as many youngsters smoke in the UK as smoke in Guernsey, and when questioned, only 3 per cent. of Guernsey's 11-year-olds said that they thought they would smoke when they were older. Guernsey is now credited as being the world leader in reducing smoking among young people.

So there is clear evidence that raising the age of sale can reduce the number of youngsters who smoke, and I am delighted to say that my Bill enjoys the support of a number of different organisations and agencies, such as the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation and the Trading Standards Institute, to name but two. Having spoken to Mike Unger, the chief executive of the foundation, I know that he is very supportive of my Bill. The foundation is currently funding a 12-year study into children's attitudes to smoking and it has just published the primary results. I am sure that the Government will want to look at its findings in great detail.

The TSI, which is responsible for enforcing the Laws relating to age-restricted sales—including sales of tobacco—across England and the rest of the UK, also strongly supports my Bill. In 2004–05, trading standards services prosecuted some 117 retailers for selling cigarettes to children aged under 16. The retailers received penalties ranging from a conditional discharge to fines of up to £1,000; many more received cautions.

After its annual conference in June this year, the Trading Standards Institute, in a press release entitled "Call to raise age limit on cigarettes to 18", said:

"The age limit on cigarette sales should be raised to 18, bringing tobacco into line with other age-barred products that have a detrimental effect on public health . . . Doing so might help deter children from becoming regular smokers, while also aiding retailers who claim it is difficult for them to determine the age of children who ask to buy cigarettes."

The call for action is also backed by the local authorities' co-ordinators of regulatory services. Stephen Butterworth, the TSI's lead officer on health, said:

"TSI supports the thrust of last year's Government White Paper "Choosing Health", which aims to improve public health by encouraging healthier choices. With that in mind, we do not believe the Government is right to leave it to 16-year-olds to make the potentially life-threatening choice of smoking or not."

Mr. Brandon Cook, TSI joint lead on age-restricted sales, added:

"We believe that raising the age limit to 18, combined with stronger penalties against shopkeepers who repeatedly make underage sales, would make it more difficult for young people to regularly get their hands on cigarettes."

The TSI has previously requested raising the age to 18 without success and it is TSI policy to continue to press for action on the issue.

It is also my intention to continue to press the Government on this issue. The current age restriction on tobacco dates back to the beginning of the last century—well before scientific evidence was available to demonstrate the real health impact of smoking. Knowing what we do today about the dangers, it is our duty to do all that we can to prevent young people from smoking. This Bill is a common-sense measure which I hope the Government will have the common sense to implement.

Question put and agreed to.

Bill ordered to be brought in by Jeff Ennis, Mr. David Chaytor, Mr. David Drew, Mrs. Betty Williams, Harry Cohen, Mr. Terry Rooney, Mr. Stephen Crabbe, Mr. David Crausby, Chris McCafferty, Mr. Jeffrey M. Donaldson and Mr. Mike Hancock.