Health Bill [HL]

My Lords, like other noble Lords, I recognise the sentiment behind the amendments of my noble friend Lord Borrie. I assume that it is to achieve our public health objectives while minimising burdens on business; that is a laudable aim but, I fear, misplaced here. These amendments would seriously undermine the effect of removing tobacco displays. There would be only a partial display ban, which would not achieve the public health benefits but would increase the regulatory burden—something which I know would be of concern to my noble friend. We know that the future of the tobacco industry depends on recruiting and retaining people to smoke. When we carried out our consultation on the future of tobacco control last year, we asked what, if anything, should be done about tobacco displays. There were three options: to retain the status quo, to introduce limited restrictions and to remove tobacco displays altogether. As noble Lords will be aware, we received overwhelming support for a complete prohibition. As may be expected, the tobacco industry opposed the ban, and many of those retailers who responded were also against change. But relevant here—