'There's a clear case' to cut taxes on tobacco, claims Tory MP

By CHRISTIAN CALGIE, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT-AT-LARGE

Published: 00:00 BST, 6 October 2026 | Updated: 00:00 BST, 6 October 2026

Kemi Badenoch's right-hand man suggested yesterday that the Tories will look at cutting tobacco duty.

Jack Rankin, the Tory leader's Parliamentary Private Secretary, railed against the sky-high tax at a conference fringe, warning that the rate is fuelling a surge in black-market cigarettes.

The Windsor MP said that while the tax cut would not be first on the party's to-do list in power, 'there's a clear case' for cutting the tax to increase revenue for the Treasury.

He argued: 'If you take tobacco and you look that between a third and a half of cigarettes are illicit, that's because an illicit pack of fags costs you what £3.50, and what do you pay for pack of cigarettes in the shop, £20?

'It's quite obvious why you would create an illicit market, and because of the scale of that illicit market, again it depends on your assumptions, but the exchequer is down between £1.7 billion and £4.7 billion.

'So there's a clear case for a Laffer-type argument on some of these taxes - they are beyond the point where revenue is maximised.'

Jack Rankin is the Conservative MP for Windsor and has been a Member of Parliament since July 4 2024

Kemi Badenoch speaking on the first day of the Conservative Party conference on October 4

The fast-rising new MP also branded many sin-tax policies illiberal and ineffective, saying they had been pushed by civil servants who have a 'religious type belief' in imposing clean lifestyles on the public.

In his last conference as Tory leader, Rishi Sunak unveiled plans to outlaw smoking, banning people born after January 1, 2009, from ever buying tobacco.

It stalled when the 2024 General Election was called but was carried through by Labour and became law in May, with restrictions coming into force next year.