Health Bill [HL]

The noble Lord who moved the amendment asserted that adults who wanted to buy cigarettes could easily get them from somewhere other than vending machines. That is by no means always the case. Many cheaper hotels, chain hotels of a type such as travel lodges—not merely those but other, larger hotels in city centres that cannot afford the heavy overtime costs associated with keeping the reception desk or the bar manned all through the night—have vending machines because they often effectively close down completely between 9 pm and 7 am. Children do not normally go into hotels to look for vending machines. Noble Lords supporting the amendment should reflect on that fact and consider compromising by accepting the excellent Amendment 90 in the name of the noble Earl, Lord Howe.