Health Bill

It is a pleasure to follow the Chair of the Select Committee, the right hon. Member for Rother Valley (Mr. Barron), who made a thoughtful and well-informed speech. His and his colleagues’ evidence sessions have informed our debate, so it is a shame that the Secretary of State had a higher priority than listening to what he had to say. I congratulate the Secretary of State and the Government on consulting extensively and listening to what they heard. We cannot deny that the Government consulted the right hon. Member for Airdrie and Shotts (John Reid) and listened to him. They have done what he asked them to do, so they were consulting and listening. They did not listen to what 90 per cent. of the public wanted, but the right hon. Gentleman is obviously the person who counts. The priority for Liberal Democrats is the freedom of people to work in a smoke-free environment. As far as I am concerned, this is an issue about the health and safety of employees in England. The health and safety of employees of England is just as important as that of employees in Scotland, Wales, and north and southern Ireland. I can cite examples of what has happened around the world. I want to take you, Mr. Deputy Speaker—albeit not literally—to the land of the free. No fewer than 300 cities and seven states in the United States have a total ban. Since a ban was introduced in California in 1998, the respiratory health of bartenders has significantly improved. That shows the point of the exercise and where we are coming from. After a six-month trial in Montana, there was a 40 per cent. drop in hospital admissions due to heart attacks. People who are sceptical about the evidence should look at what is actually happening on the ground. There are those who say, ““You may be worried about the welfare of workers, but it is their choice because they can choose to work in a smoky bar or somewhere else.”” However, if asbestos was found in the roof of a bar, people would not say, ““You don’t have to work there—go somewhere else.”” We would say, ““It’s bad for your health, so we’ll do something about it.”” The onus should be on the workplace to be good for the health of the people who work there and not to harm it.