Health Bill

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Stoddart of Swindon, although it is a difficult act to follow on this occasion. I, too, would like to thank the noble Lord, Lord Warner, for introducing this Bill. I feel very humbled to be taking part in the debate among such a distinguished line of speakers, most especially my colleagues on the Cross Benches from the medical world. As the last speaker, I have three very brief points that I would like to make, and I propose to introduce amendments to two of them under Part 6 of the Bill. The first is prescription charges. I used to correspond with the noble Baroness, Lady Cumberlege, on this point when she was at the Department of Health. I have always felt very strongly that all prescription drugs ought to have their value clearly printed on them, so that patients know exactly what they are getting for the prescription charge. I have always thought that this was a particularly good idea, because some of these drugs are outstanding value for money. My second point is also an old hobbyhorse of mine. In order further to reduce the waiting lists and the heavy load on the National Health Service, I have long advocated that insurance health premiums ought to be allowed against income tax. For those of us in this House who have health insurance, it is a very large proportion of one’s expenditure, particularly if one has a wife and, say, three or four children. Finally, I turn to the vexed question of smoking. My views are well known and are certainly well documented in Hansard, from when we last discussed smoking. I echo the views of my noble friend Lord Monson, and the noble Lords, Lord Geddes and Lord Naseby. Particularly bearing in mind what the noble Lord, Lord Stoddart, said, I find it difficult to believe that a party in power can go so directly against its manifesto commitment. If you own a restaurant, you have to staff it and pay all the financing. Therefore, if you want someone to work in that restaurant you can, after all, explain, ““I am sorry, this is a restaurant where smoking is allowed. If you want to work here, you will have to accept that””. There are, of course, plenty of other places where that person could work. In theory, I applaud the Government for wishing to limit the amount that people smoke. For years and years I have thought that the only way to stop people smoking is to have a blanket ban on the sale of all tobacco products. I know that we would have a bit of a problem because at the moment, 27 per cent of tobacco products sold in this country are smuggled in. However, I believe that if the Government really want to stop people smoking, the only alternative is to ban the sale of all tobacco products, and I intend to produce an amendment to that effect in Committee.