What to do about the tobacco companies still killing millions? Make them pay – and heavily | Michelle Mitchell

For me, this is personal. Tobacco kills one person every five minutes in Great Britain and is responsible for approx 150 cases of cancer every day. Researchers estimate that 9.3 million people in Britain have died as a result of smoking since the sixties. This figure includes some of my loved ones.

I grew up near Liverpool, which had one of the highest smoking rates in England still does that, I was constantly exposed to the toll this addiction takes on lives. People I knew were unable to work due to illness; children like me inhaled toxic cigarette smoke; and the financial and health burdens on my hometown weighed heavily.

Cancer Research UK estimates that people who smoke spend minimal money on average £2,000 per year about tobacco – and smoking rates are higher in the more deprived areas of Britain, where we also know that people are dying younger, have poorer access to healthcare and a worse experience of the NHS. These communities are also hit hardest by the cost of living crisis.

Every year the four biggest tobacco companies in Britain make a profit £900 million in profits. Millions of people are addicted to a product they can’t stop using, creating constant demand. In fact, cigarettes are the only legal consumer product that will kill the majority of users.

My parents both smoked and I hated it, but nicotine is incredibly addictive. They wanted to quit, but like many others, they did could not. The truth is that about eight in ten people smoke have tried to stop at a given moment.

We cannot let this continue. Strong leadership and political action are now required. Our leaders only need to look back to history to give them the courage and confidence to take action. Since the 1950s, smoking rates have fallen in line with measures taken, including legislation on the way tobacco products are manufactured, packaged, marketed, sold, taxed and consumed. Isn’t it time for a new wave of action? Rishi Sunak is said to be considering raising the legal smoking age, and Labor has already floated the idea – this would be welcome. But we still need tangible action to help people who smoke quit. We must hit this deadly industry where it hurts: the profits.

The idea that the “polluter pays” is not new. Water companies are fined for unlawfully dumping sewage. The gambling industry is ready pay a levy that will be used for research and treatment of gambling addiction. Even ordinary people in British cities pay charges for polluting vehicles in ultra-low emission zones. So why doesn’t the tobacco industry pay for the destruction it causes?

Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) estimates that smoking costs the NHS approx £2.5 billion annuallywhile global tobacco companies bring in more profits per year than Coca-Cola, Disney, Google, McDonalds and FedEx combined. Staggeringly, the tobacco industry’s profit margins can be no less than 71% in the United Kingdom.

In the United Kingdom, we get £11 billion in taxes on tobacco products per year. This pales in comparison to the £21 billion that smoking costs the public purse every year, according to As. This includes lower tax revenues, higher benefits, higher unemployment and lower earnings among people who smoke; plus costs for public services including the NHS and social care.

A new tobacco tax should be focused on one smoke-free fund, a resource used primarily to achieve a smoke-free Britain by funding the measures and services that will help people quit smoking – and prevent them from starting. This includes increasing the number of smoking cessation services, finding better ways to combat illegal and underage tobacco sales, creating more mass media campaigns – and, most importantly, ensuring this happens across the country is done fairly.

By introducing a tobacco tax we can make the industry pay for the damage it causes to people’s lives, to our economy and to the NHS. The collection of this money could come from price caps and profit controls or from tax increases – either way, it is imperative that the tobacco industry has no say in how this money is spent. The government wants England to be smoke-free by 2030. This is a noble and necessary goal, but it will be missed in almost a decade. A tobacco tax could turn this tide.

Whatever your political views, tobacco affects us all in some way. The loss of loved ones to smoking-related illness, NHS backlogs and waiting lists, economic inactivity due to ill health: none of these are party political issues, which is why cross-party cooperation and engagement is crucial.

The autumn statement is fast approaching. We are at a crossroads: this could be the perfect opportunity for the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, with cross-party support, to write the next chapter and take crucial steps towards ending smoking. To make the tobacco companies pay for the damage they cause. To give our loved ones the right support they need. To make it easier for people to quit smoking and reduce the chance of them starting in the first place.

Doing nothing has deadly costs. We predict that between now and 2040 there will be an additional 1 million cases of cancer caused by smoking. This is not the time to be timid. Now is the time to act.