Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

As is so often the case, the noble Lord, Lord Faulkner, has come up with an interesting and sensible idea that has merit. I was struck by the YouGov poll that showed such widespread public support—I think that it was 87 per cent—for the idea of a licensing regime for tobacco. That would be logical, as being licensed means that your staff are trained in requiring ID cards, assessing people’s ages and all that comes with that. When we think of the training in food handling needed for even a small shop to sell just a couple of food items—the certificates on food handling, and so on—it is extraordinary that when we come, as the noble Lord said, to selling a product with far greater health implications, one could walk in as a shop assistant and just sell it over the counter. There are many implications behind what the noble Lord says. As for the retailers, if we are to move forward by working out the best way of doing this in conjunction with both them and trading standards officers, then this is a practical way to progress that argument.