Health Bill

The noble Lord, Lord Walton, makes a valid point about employees having to clear away ashtrays. The Scandinavians—the Swedes, I think—invented special cubicles for smokers where the discarded cigarette butts are macerated and swept away, and there is no need for anybody to come in. The system would no doubt require a little more development and refinement, but that could be done. Moreover, the objections he raises could equally well be applied in the case of maids clearing up hotel rooms where people smoke. It is exactly the same thing—there is no difference. Yet there is no suggestion that smoking in hotel rooms will be banned.