Pregnant smokers 'should be offered £10 a week to quit'
Pregnant smokers should be offered a £10 a week reward to quit, thinktank suggests
Thursday, 18, Mar 2010 10:12
By Sarah Garrod.
Pregnant women who smoke should be offered £10 a week as a reward for quitting, a thinktank has suggested today.
Policy Exchange also said that tax on cigarettes should be increased to pay for health measures designed to help people quit.
The report from the political thinktank claims the cost of smoking to the public far outweighs its revenue from duty, and called for a five per cent tax hike on cigarettes in next week's Budget - a rise of 23 pence for a pack of 20 cigarettes.
Report author Henry Featherstone, head of Policy Exchange's health and social care unit, said: "It is a popular myth that smoking is a net contributor to the economy - our research finds that every single cigarette smoked costs the country 6.5 pence.
"In order to balance income and costs, tobacco duty should be progressively increased until the full societal cost of smoking is met through taxation.
"Targeted action like this would help reduce England's growing health inequalities, whereby those on lower incomes suffer more ill health, which can largely be attributed to smoking."
The Tobacco Manufacturers' Association (TMA) hit out at the report, warning that above-inflation tax rises would increase smuggling and divert funds away from the Treasury.
Chief executive Christopher Ogden said: "The suggestion that tobacco tax [should] be increased by five per cent and the tobacco duty escalator be reintroduced is ridiculous.
"HM Revenue and Customs recognise that high tax exacerbates smuggling, and it was only when the government removed the tobacco duty escalator in 2001 that the situation began to stabilise.
"Raising tobacco taxation above the rate of inflation is counter-productive and will only increase smuggling. Evidence from the UK's recent history proves this point."