Health secretary unable to say whether anti-smoking plan will be scrapped

The health secretary has refused to rule out scrapping the governments’ anti-smoking plan and declined to say whether she agrees with it.

Labour branded Therese Coffey “clueless” after she said the ambition to make England smoke-free by 2030 was not her focus and that she was not across the details.

It comes after reports that the strategy had been binned by Liz Truss’s incoming administration.

“I’m not aware any target has been scrapped. My focus right now is the ABCD,” Ms Coffey told Sky News – referring to other areas of the health service such as ambulances.

The health secretary would not say whether she was personally committed to the policy, telling LBC radio: “I’m a government minister so if that’s Government policy today then that’s what I agree with. I don’t have personal views on these sorts of matters.”

Asked if the government policy was on track to be achieved by 2030 she said she did not know “because I haven’t looked into this specific prevention policy”.

Ms Coffey, who voted against banning smoking in cars with children in 2015, also told the same radio station that she did not believe it was right “to be telling parents how to handle the situation”.

Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting criticised his opposite number’s approach.

“The Health Secretary is ‘unaware’ of a major plank of her own Government’s health policy because she spends little time in her own department and most of her time firefighting in Number 10. Clueless and hopeless,” he said.

Following the interview a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said the position on publishing the tobacco plan this year had not changed.

“It is inaccurate to suggest that the tobacco control plan has been scrapped and the Government remains committed to its smoke-free ambition by 2030,” the spokesperson added.

“We will set out our next steps for the plan in due course.”