Professor Sir Chris Whitty, England’s medical director, criticized as “dishonest” any attempt to frame the problem as a matter of “freedom of choice”.
He said: “Cigarette industry pressure groups will try to make this a debate between health and freedom. It is the most dishonest debate you can imagine.
“Most people who are smokers want to quit, but they can’t because the cigarette industry has made them addicted at a very young age. They can’t. That’s not freedom of choice.
“Smoking causes people around a smoker to lose their health quickly. They do not choose to smoke, but they are still harmed. This is not freedom of choice.
“The baby in the womb of a pregnant smoker does not choose to smoke. If you are in favor of freedom, you are absolutely not in favor of this addictive industry that kills so many people.”
Activists praise the “ambitious” report.
Deborah Arnott, executive director of Action on Smoking and Health, said the report was “ambitious” and said polls suggested the public supported stronger government interventions to combat smoking.
“Only by making smoking obsolete can the government fulfill its mission of leveling up health and well-being,” he said.
Michelle Mitchell, Executive Director of Cancer Research UK, said: “Smoking is the leading cause of cancer, with one in four deaths from all cancers estimated to come from smoking in the UK. The scale of the problem is “But for the most disadvantaged, this will not be achieved until the mid-2040s.”