History risks repeating itself in Ireland

Peter Foreshaw Brookes | 21st July 2025 | Comment, Politics

Northern Ireland faces legal confusion over UK and EU tobacco laws. A UK generational smoking ban and proposed EU excise hikes risk encouraging smuggling through the region. Critics warn of serious consequences, including illicit trade and organised crime, if legislators in London and Brussels fail to address the legal contradictions.

It is easy to see a harm and forge ahead with removing it before anything else gets in the way, like the man at the side of the road complaining about how parents reprimand their children. Yes, reprimanding is unpleasant. However, it is far less unpleasant than the alternative: children without guidance. As it is with many things in life, so it is with many legislative efforts. Too often, politicians amount to the man complaining at the side of the road, concerned only with the harms he sees and not the full results of his recommendations. Currently, Northern Ireland is poised to fall victim to this sort of lack of foresight from legislators on two fronts, from London and from Brussels, and the consequences are going to be serious. In the UK, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill is currently making its way through the British Parliament. It contains what was originally the brainchild of the previous British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak: the generational smoking ban. The Bill would make it an offe...

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