Health Bill [HL]

That is from the medical profession. There is another article in the Daily Mail of Friday, 27 February 2009, which states: ""Our lifestyles are killing us. Poor diets, drinking and lack of exercise blamed for 78,000 cancer cases a year"." There is nothing about smoking in that headline. That 78,000 cancer deaths compares to 87,000 smoking deaths, which means that other lifestyles are rapidly catching up. So exactly where are we going? If we are going to ban the display of cigarettes because they are dangerous to lifestyles, are we going to ban all the things that make us obese? Are all those going to go under the counter? Are chocolates going to go under the counter? When I take my grandchildren, not very often, to the shops, they do not say, "Can I have a packet of cigarettes?". They say, "Grandad, can I have some chocolate?". So are we going to ban all the things that are said to make us obese? Are we going to stop eating certain things in public places? Are we going to ban the display of all the things which will make us obese? That is the question I am raising, and that is why I believe we are going along a dangerous road. If, as our doctors say, although I do not believe it, 78,000 people are dying because they are fat, then before long some ASH-ite organisation will come along saying that the Government ought to take greater action to put all these things under the counter and that we ought to close down all the McDonald’s. That is where we are going. We are saying to tobacconists, "You may not display a legal product". That is bound to lead eventually to restrictions on other trades. Take the drink trade: Scotland is going to put a minimum price on it. In my view, the most dangerous drug in this country—indeed, the world—is alcohol. I have to tell the breweries and the distillers that the Government will be coming for them next. They have already started. I have to say that Hitler was a rabid anti-smoker—worse than many Members of the Committee.