Health Bill

We expected, and, having read that clause in the Bill, any reasonable person would have expected, that the Government intended to make the age of consent for buying tobacco 18. Nobody had even contemplated that they might go further and make the age 21, because the implications of that are so wide that they could not be considered in a Bill of this sort. If 21 is going to be the minimum age at which a person can buy tobacco, we want to know whether the minimum age for other activities and the buying of other products is going to be affected as well, because tobacco cannot be treated on its own. What about people aged 16 who ride motorbikes that kill people, or the age at which a person can drive a car that kills people? I am sorry that the Minister has raised what I consider to be a very serious area at this stage. If there is to be consultation, he ought to tell us how wide it will be. Is it going to be with retailers, with tobacco manufacturers, or with the Chancellor of the Exchequer—because it will affect his takings? I am sorry that my paranoia is continuing, but this is an important issue, and we need to have assurances from the Minister by the time we come to Report.