Health Bill [HL]

My Lords, last week a friend my age died of lung cancer. Two months before he died he tried to give up smoking. He had started when he was 14. That is the problem: to the young brain nicotine is particularly addictive and young people remain addicted. It is very tempting when people trying to give up see large displays in their corner shop. It tips them over into having another cigarette and keeps the bargaining going. The evidence is strong. We know that 340,000 children try cigarettes every year, 60,000 of whom go on to become fully fledged smokers. We know that those who are exposed to power wall displays are three times more likely to try smoking than are children who are not. That is why we want those big displays to go. It is worth noting that all these displays look remarkably similar. They are not put up by individual shopkeepers on their own; they are a matched design. We have not seen any statement from tobacco manufacturers that they will not support the costs of installing the display covers or the dispensing equipment that allows the shopkeeper to remain facing the shop when he is selling a packet of cigarettes to a customer. We know that shops are vulnerable and such equipment means that the shopkeeper does not have to take his eye off the ball. It is bandied around that pubs have gone to the wall because of the ban on smoking in public places. I commend to your Lordships the BBC Wales programme entitled "Week In Week Out", which launched a very good investigation into what is actually driving some publicans to the wall. The reasons are tied up with the franchise agreements into which they are locked by their contracts, meaning that the profit margin on all their products is incredibly narrow. It is false to blame a ban on smoking in public places as the sole cause for pubs going under. This is a public health measure for the next generation. This amendment must be resisted.