Health Bill

moved Amendment No. 1:"Page 1, line 8, at end insert—" ““( ) This Chapter does not apply to any premises or places that are being used solely as a private dwelling, nor to any vehicle which is being used solely for private purposes.”” The noble Lord said: Before I turn to the specifics of the amendment, I should place on record once again my personal dissatisfaction that an issue that affects nearly one-third of the nation is, nice though the Moses Room is, not being considered on the Floor of the House, in the Chamber, which is in my judgment the appropriate place for such an important Committee stage. Secondly, for the convenience of the Committee, and so that we do not have any arguments about certain issues, I make it absolutely clear that I personally accept that smoking causes death to the smoker. I have no wish to have any issue about that. I also accept that it affects morbidity and have no wish to challenge that. However, Members of the Committee may want to note that, through a number of amendments, I shall be challenging the alleged health effects of passive smoking. Finally, before I turn to the fine detail of the amendment, I express some disappointment to the Minister—I am sorry to do so so early in our proceedings. I wrote to him with some queries before the Easter break and have yet to receive a reply. I should have thought that it was normal courtesy for a response to be given prior to the Committee proceedings, especially as I asked for the reply to be received before the Committee started.