Health Bill [HL]

I shall speak also to Amendments 83 and 84. These amendments are designed as a means of asking the Minister how she believes the proposals for so-called "requested" displays of tobacco products will work in practice. A "requested display" is defined in new Section 7B as being, ""a display to an individual following a particular request by the individual to purchase a tobacco product, or for information about a tobacco product"." The individual concerned must be 18 years old or over. All kinds of questions rear their heads in this context. For example, in the regulatory impact assessment, the Government have suggested that a curtain could be used to hide tobacco products. If a parent requests to view tobacco products at a supermarket but is accompanied by their child, is the retailer allowed to comply with the request? If a customer asks for a tobacco product in a small shop while schoolchildren are present, what should the retailer do? In a busy supermarket it is also likely that requests for tobacco will be made every minute, or even more frequently at peak times, and displays will therefore be almost permanently on view, unlike in small shops. Would that be legally acceptable? If a retailer were to employ someone aged over 18 whose job it was to peruse products over long periods, would this be a means of circumventing the legislation? How long would a reasonable period be for viewing products prior to purchase? In thinking about questions of this kind, I cannot help feeling that the provisions here are a nonsense; they will be unworkable. Another aspect is the underlying principle involved. Part of the Government’s aim is to denormalise smoking and thereby to denormalise adults who choose to smoke. I hate the word "denormalise" but that is the one that is bandied about. How reasonable is it in pursuit of that aim for an individual to be forced to request to view a product which they can legally buy? Can the Minister cite an example of any other kind of product where this rule applies? We have to keep reminding ourselves that the buying and selling of tobacco is perfectly legal. Why should someone who wants to buy a legal product have to make a special request to view it? We will come on to the wider principles at play in Clause 19 in a moment, but the whole idea of wanting to humiliate smokers—which is really what this amounts to—is neither civilised nor proportionate. Before we go any further, the Minister needs to explain to the Committee why this odd device of a requested display has been put into the Bill. I beg to move.