Health Bill

If I may take issue with the noble Baroness, Lady Howarth, the reason why we are taking so long over these amendments is that the whole Bill was rushed through the House of Commons and virtually no time at all was given because of the change in track when it suddenly became a matter for a free vote as opposed to a manifesto commitment. The noble Lord, Lord Faulkner, talked about success in Scotland. Looking around the Committee, I see that I am the only resident in Scotland and I can tell the Committee what a disaster the ban has been. Only last weekend, I was taken out to lunch by people who were staying with me. It was extremely unpleasant that, despite the fact that it was of course 20 degrees colder than in London, one had to go outside to have a quick smoke before and after the meal. I shall cite two recent articles in the press. One is from Caterer and Hotelkeeper on 30 March this year. It states:"““Pub operators and associations in Scotland have attacked the introduction of last weekend’s smoking ban as ‘rushed and confused’. Colin Wilkinson, secretary of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, said many publicans had had their attempts to provide for smokers frustrated””." The London edition of Metro states:"““A pub landlord has been forced to call last orders because his bar has been boycotted by smokers. The Auchmill Inn in Aberdeen was once a popular spot for locals. But owner Sandy Robinson claims the pub has already been severely affected by the smoking ban and will close its doors tomorrow. Almost 90% of his customers are smokers and have refused to come back to the bar””." One reason why I especially want to support Amendments Nos. 105 and 106 is the confusion that will obviously arise from planning applications for external awnings et cetera. The Edinburgh Evening News of 28 March said:"““A massive backlog of applications for smoking shelters outside pubs has seen just three plans for awnings approved this year. More than 80 applications for shelters and awnings for smokers who are now forced to go outside because of the smoking legislation are waiting to be dealt with—and more are expected to come””." That is referring purely to Edinburgh. When one thinks about all the thousands of different planning authorities throughout England, to postpone the date until the end of July 2008 makes eminent sense, bearing in mind the planning applications that are bound to follow this crazy Bill.