At a time when health policy discussions are rightly focused on NHS backlogs, striking workers and a lack of capacity within social care, Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, threw a new issue into the mix: he wants smoking to be phased out.
“It would make such a transformational impact on the health of individuals and on the health of the nation as a whole,” Streeting said in a recent interview with the Times. His proposal angered commentators on both sides of the political spectrum, but does he have a point?
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