Health Bill [HL]

I have not done either of those things although I would be very willing to. I am always willing to listen to views of whatever kind on this subject. The Minister’s announcement is welcome but, for her information, I should tell her prior to that meeting that when the response to the public consultation was published, the department, in its eagerness to publish what it felt was the right answer, omitted to reflect the scale and volume of the retailers’ responses. The whole exercise was conducted as if a point-of-sale display ban were a done deal. It is not a done deal because Parliament has yet to accept it. The more I have examined the proposal, the more I am of the belief that it is both misconceived and disproportionate. By disproportionate I mean that if we consider the risks involved, the damage that we are likely to inflict by regulating in this area is unacceptably greater than the damage that we are likely to do by not regulating. I hope that collectively we can persuade the Government that they have made a serious error. I look forward to hearing what other Members of the Committee have to say.