Health Bill [HL]

I fully understand the points made by the noble Earl, Lord Howe. I hope the Minister has got an answer—goodness knows what—to the difficult points that he has made. Sir Liam Donaldson, in his report last year, Smokefree England—One Year On, said that the ban on smoking in enclosed public places, which began in 2007, had been a great success in terms of both compliance and improved health. That is one of the most basic reasons, especially when there is going to be a review next year, for asking the Government a number of questions on this part of the Bill, including what is the basis for at this point going further and requiring restrictions of some kind. On the matter raised by the noble Earl, surely his example of an adult and a child together at a supermarket is illustrative of how fantastical it would be if Clause 19 went through without any amendment. The business of trying to distinguish between adults and those under 18 in deciding whether a display should be permitted is fantastic and unworkable. However, I am not in favour of the noble Earl’s amendment in the sense of wanting it to be passed. I think the best way of dealing with this matter, with arguments that I hope to deploy later but which it would be premature to use now, is through a clause stand part debate.