The government wants to stop two million Britons smoking in the next five years

The government has announced plans to reduce the number of smokers in England by 1.8million under plans to move towards a “smoke-free generation”.

Under the Tobacco Control Plan, it will aim to cut smoking rates among adults from 15.5 per cent to 12 per cent or under by 2022.

It also aims to cut smoking among 15-year-olds to 3 per cent or less, and halve smoking in pregnant women to 6 per cent or under by the same year.

The Government said it is setting out “bold ambition for a smoke-free generation”, where the smoking rates fall to 5 per cent or under.

There are currently 7.3 million adult smokers in England and more than 200 people a day die from a smoking-related illness.

The difference in life expectancy between the poorest and the richest can be as much as nine years — with smoking accounting for about half of this difference.

As part of the plan, the government announced help for smokers with mental health problems, by making inpatient services sites smoke free by 2018.

Current figures suggest that more than 40 per cent of adults with a serious mental illness smoke.

To achieve its objectives, the government said it will provide access to training for all health professionals on how to help patients quit

It also wants to create a smoke-free NHS by 2020, and said there will also be a focus on using e-cigarettes and other stop-smoking devices as aids to quitting.

Public health minister Steve Brine said: “Britain is a world leader in tobacco control, and our tough action in the past decade has seen smoking rates in England fall to an all-time low of 15.5 per cent.

“But our vision is to create a smoke-free generation. Smoking continues to kill hundreds of people a day in England, and we know the harms fall hardest on some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in our society.”

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Duncan Selbie, chief executive of Public Health England, said: “We are at a pivotal point where an end is in sight and a smoke-free generation a reality.

“But the final push, reaching the most vulnerable and disadvantaged, will undoubtedly be the hardest.

“Only by everyone pulling together can we hope to end the loss of life and suffering smoking has wreaked for far too long. Public Health England will do everything possible to make this happen.”

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health (Ash), said: “Funding must be found if the Government is to achieve its vision of a ‘smoke-free generation’.

“The tobacco industry should be made to pay through a licence fee on the ‘polluter pays’ principle.

“Tobacco manufacturers are some of the most profitable companies on earth; they can easily afford the costs of radical action to drive down smoking rates.”

Simon Clark, director of smokers’ group Forest, said: “The most important stakeholder is the consumer, yet they are routinely ignored by Government.

“Ministers should stop lecturing smokers and engage with them.”

He added: “The Tobacco Control Plan should include a systematic review of the impact of measures such as the display ban and plain packaging.

“It’s time too to question the use of public money to fund stop-smoking services and other anti-smoking campaigns.”

The British Medical Association’s board of science chairman Professor Parveen Kumar said: “If we’re to stop the 79,000 annual deaths in England attributed to smoking, smoking cessation services and tobacco control measures must be adequately funded, yet local authorities are reducing stop-smoking budgets, merging services into unwieldy departments or cutting services altogether.

“Cuts to these highly cost-effective services will only increase health inequalities and demand on tomorrow’s GP surgeries and hospital wards.”