Ministers ‘set to ban 
all but plain cigarette packets’

The legislation will be announced during the Queen’s Speech in May, according to the Guardian.

The newspaper said the Government also plans to ban smoking in cars carrying children.

However, senior Department of Health officials insisted that Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is yet to make a decision about the move.

In December, Australia became the first country in the world to put all tobacco products in standardised packs.

Cigarettes and other products are all sold in packaging of a standardised colour, with only the brand name and graphic warnings visible.

Health campaigners say that 
brightly coloured packages are one of the last marketing ploys tobacco companies use to lure people to their products, but opponents claim it would lead to
increased smuggling and job losses.

Information generated by the consultation, which closed in August, is still being analysed by health officials.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: “We have received many thousands of responses to the tobacco packaging consultation.

“We are currently in the process of carefully collating and analysing all the responses received.

“The Government has an open mind on this issue and any decisions to take further action will be taken only after full consideration of the consultation responses, evidence and other relevant information.”

Dr Harpal Kumar, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said: “We strongly support proposals to introduce plain, standardised packaging of tobacco, and other measures to reduce the harm caused by smoking.”

Steve Crabb, communications director of the British Lung Foundation said: “This is fantastic news, and a significant acknowledgement that the unacceptable number of people dying from respiratory disease in the UK needs to be tackled through legislation.

“Reducing smoking is one of the biggest things we could do to improve the health of the nation.”