Nigel Farage has pledged to scrap the generational smoking ban which would prevent those under 18 at the time of its enactment from ever buying cigarettes. The Reform leader warned that the “puritanical spirit of Oliver Cromwell again stalks the land” in a scathing attack on the tobacco prohibition, which he branded “utterly unworkable”.

Oliver Cromwell was a roundhead statesman who served as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1653 to 1658. During that time he oversaw a series of bans such as outlawing Christmas celebrations and ordering the military to seize food prepared for Christmas meals.

He also banned sport from being played on a Sunday, and mandated that people be whipped if they were caught playing. Mr Cromwell also banned swearing in public, excessive drinking or the wearing of ‘non-sobre attire’. Mr Farage, himself a prolific smoker also warned the ban would create a crime wave, saying it would fuel the black market and was symbolic the United Kingdom’s slide into an authoritarian nanny state.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Farage said: “A millisecond’s thought will conclude that it is both unjust and utterly unworkable.” He slammed the ban, originally introduced by Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and now embraced by Sir Keir Starmer‘s government, which means anyone born after 2008 will be unable to buy cigarettes legally.

“Ten years from now, a 27-year-old will not be legally able to buy cigarettes, but a 28-year-old will be able to,” he said. Mr Farage said: “The public is well ahead of the Prime Minister in spotting the glaring flaws in this piece of pious grandstanding that is masquerading as legislation.”

The ban was introduced by Mr Sunak in the waning years of his government, and then enshrined in the Tory manifesto in 2024 before the Conservatives were soundly defeated by Labour. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is currently nearing completion in Parliament, with the generational ban included.

Mr Farage warned the prohibition will have devastating consequences for law and order, pointing to Australia where a booming black market has led to violence. “It will undeniably fuel the illicit trade in cigarettes, already big business for the criminal underworld,” he said.

He revealed that Australia has been hit by a wave of some 250 fire-bombings in a “Chicago-style turf war” among bootleggers, with lives lost in the violence. The illegal tobacco market now accounts for approximately one in five tobacco sales in Australia, costing the government an estimated £2.5billion in lost taxes.

Mr Farage said shopkeepers will be turned into “health policemen” and fined £200 if they fail to check customers’ ages properly – a task he claims is impossible given the complexity of the rolling ban. But beyond the practical problems, the Reform leader warned of a deeper threat to British freedom.

“Britain was once held to be a beacon of freedom in the world,” he said, before declaring: “Now, as I observed in the Commons, the puritanical spirit of Oliver Cromwell again stalks the land.” He added: “Our bossy, ruling elite’s default response to something is moving to ban it.”

Mr Farage said people who speak out against “woke orthodoxy” can expect to have “their collars felt”, while minority pursuits such as trail hunting will be “consigned to the history books”. He revealed New Zealand is the only other country to have attempted a generational smoking ban under former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, but it “didn’t last five minutes” before being scrapped.

Mr Farage vowed: “I can promise that the generational smoking ban will not last long if Reform gets the chance to start rebuilding our mismanaged country.” He concluded: “As for those like me, known to enjoy a pint and a cigarette, we have been told the risks and we are prepared to take our chances.”