Health Bill

For goodness’ sake, I do not think that it is possible to go down a coal mine and discover it to be a very healthy working environment. The Government say that the ban is about protecting the health of people who work behind bars, and I accept that their health should be protected, but there are many licensed premises and a great shortage of catering staff, which is why so many illegal immigrants are employed in catering. Surely if there are different kinds of pubs and restaurants, bar and restaurant staff can find employment in those that suit them. As many Members have mentioned, if we take the assertion that staff are the primary concern a step further, how can it be right to expose some people in some pubs to smoke, and yet say that in other pubs where food is served people will be protected from a smoky atmosphere? That defies logic. It is nothing to do with liberty. We know why the Government have adopted this position—because the Cabinet could not agree. Everybody would have more respect for the Government were they just to admit that. It is absolute nonsense to suggest that they are protecting some people’s liberty. If we are talking about protecting staff in pubs, as we should, I will mention my pub—I do not own it, but I go in it, as it is in my village. It is the Village Inn in Twyning, if anyone wants to look it up, and it is a fine establishment. The landlord and his wife run it, they both smoke and they do not employ any staff. How does the Government’s logic stack up in that case? The pub serves food—it has a very small menu, as it is a country pub. If the ban goes through, let us say that the pub stops serving food, as I think that it would, because many people in that pub smoke. If the landlord chooses not to serve food so that we can continue to go in his premises and smoke, will I be banned from personally requesting a meal? Will I be stopped from going to the landlady and saying, ““I am aware that you smoke, that your husband smokes and that it is a smoky atmosphere, but I want to exercise my choice to have a meal””? If I have a meal prepared at home, it is prepared in a smoky atmosphere. Why cannot I exercise that choice? Why should that choice be denied to me? It is ridiculous.