RESEARCH showing how brightly-coloured cigarette cartons help hook kids on smoking relit the debate on plain packaging laws in Britain yesterday.

In the wake of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report Scotland's SNP government renewed its pledge to ban tobacco branding.

The institute's research showed the number of daily smokers dropped from 15.1 per cent to 12.8 per cent between 2010 and 2013 after plain packaging laws were introduced in Australia, even before a tobacco tax hike was imposed.