Health Bill

I want to assist, once again, in the winkling-out process. All these clauses are based on arguments, and we heard one from the noble Lord, Lord Faulkner, who said that 70 or 80 per cent of people approved of the smoking ban, as revealed by surveys. That is true in one sense. If you conduct a poll and ask a yes or no question about whether people want a total ban, about 70 to 80 per cent will say yes. On the other hand, if you ask people what they would like to be done about smoking in pubs, for example, and give them a list of options, most will favour a restriction and not a total ban. Also, in its latest report, the Office for National Statistics reported that about 65 per cent of people would favour restrictions on smoking and only 31 per cent said that they favoured a total ban. So the argument that, after an exhaustive consultation process, the Government were swayed by the weight of public opinion to give way and change their mind seems to be complete nonsense. Public opinion does not lead one to that conclusion; public opinion is divided and if people are asked somewhat different questions, they give somewhat different answers. I feel that I am self-appointing myself—no doubt there will be quite a lot of opposition to this—as the statistical conscience of this Committee. If people want to get through the debate faster, perhaps they should quote fewer figures, because I will certainly get up and challenge them.