Health Bill [HL]

I thank the noble Baroness for those comments. The general public are concerned about youth smoking. In a public opinion poll conducted by ICM in October, more than eight in 10 people said that they were concerned about children and young people starting to smoke, and agreed that the Government should do more to discourage them from doing so and help those who do smoke to quit. Nearly seven in 10 people agreed that tobacco displays should be removed from shops if there were evidence that it would discourage young people from starting to smoke, and we are confident that there is robust evidence. There is also significant support for a prohibition on display from a wide range of organisations, including: the Royal College of Physicians, Asthma UK, the British Heart Foundation, the British Medical Association, the Local Government Association, Marie Curie Cancer Care, the National Children’s Bureau, the National Heart Forum, the Royal College of Nursing, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, as well as numerous local authorities and NHS bodies. Internationally, a growing number of jurisdictions are removing, or planning to remove, tobacco displays. They include Iceland, 12 of the 13 Canadian provinces, Thailand, the British Virgin Islands and Norway. In addition, four states in Australia are consulting or planning to legislate. Noble Lords referred in our debate on Thursday to New Zealand. The New Zealand Government have changed their mind. They are ignoring a recommendation from their health committee to remove displays. That change of heart came about after a general election that installed a Conservative Government. They have provided no evidence above and beyond that available to the committee that first recommended that policy. That is not an example that we intend to follow. Most important for us, perhaps, is Scotland's decision to remove tobacco displays. It would be a shame if it were only the children of Scotland—and, indeed, Ireland—who were protected from tobacco industry promotion. It is an essential measure to reduce smoking by young people and to support smokers who want to quit, and it should stand part of the Bill.