‘It’s In The Interest of The NHS to Keep People Smoking’: Ex-Mumford Musician Winston Marshall Slams Smoking Age Hike

Concerned cigar salesman and ex-Mumford & Sons banjoist Winston Marshall sat down with Sky News’ Kay Burley Thursday to slam Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s plans to infringe “on the liberties of Englishmen” by raising the smoking age.

As co-founder of 1573 Cigars, Marshall explained his conviction that smoking was “a freedom that we should all have” and that “it’s not the place of government to tell us what we can and can’t do with our bodies.”

On Wednesday, in his inaugural Tory conference speech as leader, Sunak addressed smoking and vaping as a significant public health issue, describing it as a leading and avoidable cause of death, disability, and illness in society. He lauded his proposed ban as a monumental step for public health.

After a prolonged discussion on the varied health impacts of different types of smoking, Burley interjected to defend Sunak’s move: “I suppose they’re saying that for all sorts of reasons, and not least because they want people to be healthier, and also those people that do smoke regularly then have to rely on the National Health Service, which means that the rest of us have to pay for their addiction well.”

It was then that Marshall fielded the seemingly counterintuitive position that the NHS needed smokers.

“It is my opinion,” Marshall responded, “that the evidence suggests it’s actually in the interest of the NHS to keep people smoking so that we tax and raise more money.”

Smoking related illness is estimated to cost the publicly-funded National Health Service in England around £2.6 billion per year.

Winston as well as owning 1573 Cigars is a paid commentator at The Spectator and is the son of hedge fund manager Paul Marshall, co-founder of Unherd and co-funder of GB News. In 2021, he garnered attention when he departed from folk rock band Mumford & Sons due to controversy surrounding his tweet endorsing a book by far right writer Andy Ngo on Antifa.