Health Bill [HL]

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Selsdon, is a very difficult act to follow, as always. I am sure that there are many admirable provisions in Parts 1 and 2 of this Bill, which, I fear, I have not studied, but the same cannot be said of much of Part 3 and, specifically, Clause 19. It is upon this clause that I wish to concentrate. I am less concerned about Clause 20, which concerns tobacco vending machines. It is extraordinary how freedoms have been curtailed in this country recently. Could the servicemen returning to this country in 1945, after spending up to five years fighting to liberate continental Europe and much of Asia from tyranny, have possibly imagined that they, supposing that they are still around, their children and their grandchildren would have to stand outside in the sleet and rain like outcasts, simply to enjoy a cigarette or small cigar, all because of a stubborn refusal by zealots to compromise and agree on a middle way, as has been achieved in a number of European countries? As a light smoker I am rarely inconvenienced in this way, but the scenes of perfectly decent people huddled up, with their coat collars turned up, braving the elements, remind me forcibly of witnessing on more than one occasion 60-odd years ago in the American south, and in the United States capital, Washington DC, another minority group—coincidentally they formed about 20 per cent of the population—standing outside diners munching their burgers in the cold, while representatives of the majority population sat inside enjoying their meals in warmth and comfort. Apart from creating, in effect—although I am not sure whether it was deliberate—second-class citizens, the zealots have effectively signed the death knell of the great British pub. Pubs are closing at the astonishing rate of 39 per week. Not content with that, the zealots plan to impose burdens, financial and otherwise, on small shopkeepers, a disproportionate number of whom are hard-working Asians. Newsagents derive as much as a third of their income from tobacco sales. For what end is this plan? It is supposed to protect the health of adolescents, but, if people are so concerned about that, and it is an admirable objective, why did the Government use the Parliament Act to force through Section 1 of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000 against the considered judgment of a majority of your Lordships’ House, including many Labour Members? For those noble Lords who want to refresh their memories, I commend the House of Lords Hansard of 13 November 2000, in particular columns 35 and 36. I revert to the subject of tobacco. I am sorry that the noble Lord, Lord Rea, is not in his place, but it is already a criminal offence to sell tobacco to the under 18s. This new law is almost always obeyed, and where it is not, the remedy should be to pursue and punish the offenders rigorously. I shall go further; should not the police be given the power to confiscate tobacco from minors, matching their powers to confiscate alcohol? Underlying the Bill there is an extraordinary misunderstanding of human psychology. The BMA, for example, claims that a display of tobacco products at the point of sale reinforces in young people notions of the glamour of smoking. I go into shops and supermarkets quite a lot, and I can vouch that the huddle of customers around the tobacco counter is about as glamorous as a queue of people at a chemists waiting to buy aspirin or corn plasters. The fact is that young people throughout the world are, and always have been, tempted by what is mysterious and forbidden by adults. If you hide cigarettes behind a curtain, they will automatically become more exotic and desirable. On a practical note, I have noticed that in most supermarkets a cigarette counter is always busy, so in practice, the curtain would be open most of the time. The BMA is on surer ground by asserting that young people are influenced by role models. On the whole, this is true; but what can you do about it? Should you censor every film, DVD and TV programme which shows people smoking? Mind you, the Americans, with their puritan heritage, did just that regarding one of their most famous 20th century presidents, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In real life, FDR was rarely seen in public, nor I suppose in private, without his elegant cigarette holder, in which a cigarette smouldered more or less perpetually. However, the Americans successfully and literally airbrushed this important feature of his personality and lifestyle right out of history. American schoolchildren today believe FDR to have been a lifelong non-smoker. One wonders how long it will be before British children are taught that our famous wartime leader, Winston Churchill, used to boost Britain’s morale during the blitz by being driven around bombed areas giving a ““V”” sign with one hand, while with the other brandishing his trademark cylindrical macrobiotic muesli bar, before retiring to his simple supper of lentils and brown rice, washed down with dandelion tea, to fortify himself for his titanic struggle with the evil, chain-smoking, hard-drinking carnivore, Adolf Hitler. Do not laugh, my Lords, it may yet happen. Speaking of Prime Ministers, it is noteworthy that three of this country’s 20th century’s Prime Ministers most closely identified in the public mind with smoking—Winston Churchill, Clement Attlee and Harold Wilson—lived on average to the age of 85. Not bad going. The Government themselves, through their agencies, the Better Regulation Commission and the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, have clearly stated on more than one occasion that policy solutions ““must be proportionate””, ““need to be evidence based, objective and rational”” and must be ““appropriate and fair””. None of these conditions has been met in the case of the proposed ban, and the Government should think again.