Health campaigners cheer UK pub smoking ban

By Kate Holton

LONDON (Reuters) – Jubilant health campaigners hailed
parliament’s decision to ban smoking in pubs and clubs, saying
on Wednesday many lives would be saved and that hundreds of
thousands of smokers would quit.

The House of Commons voted in favor of the ban by a wide
margin on Tuesday after MPs were given a free vote to stave off
possible defeat for the government.

The bill, passed by 384 votes to 184, followed months of
heated debate over the extent of a ban that had divided the
Labour government. The result means that, 50 years after
British scientists became the first to establish a link between
smoking and lung cancer, England joins the growing list of
countries to ban workplace smoking.

But while anti-smoking campaigners celebrated and pub
owners pondered the implications for business, critics
condemned the government for interfering and denying people
choice.

The anti-smoking group ASH said in a statement: “We are
absolutely delighted that MPs have listened to the arguments,
looked at the evidence and decided that comprehensive
smoke-free legislation is a cause whose time has come.”

“This vote will save thousands of lives, as non-smokers are
protected from other people’s smoke and as smokers quit in the
hundreds of thousands.”

The bill now passes to the House of Lords where it is
expected to pass without amendment. If so, it will become law
by mid-2007.

“This is the most important advance in public health since
Sir Richard Doll identified that smoking causes lung cancer 50
years ago,” said Alex Markham, head of Cancer Research UK, in a
statement.

But pro-smoking lobbying group Forest condemned the ban.

“We think it is totally unnecessary and completely
illiberal,” it said. “Unfortunately, members of parliament got
it into their heads that because Ireland had chosen an utterly
draconian ban, it was inevitable it should happen over here.”

Ireland banned smoking in restaurants, pubs and workplaces
in 2004, and six countries imposed bans on smoking of varying
severity last year.

PARTIAL BAN

The government initially proposed a partial ban, exempting
private clubs and pubs that do not serve food. But many Labour
supporters said this was not tough enough, prompting open
arguments between members of the cabinet.

Labour unions and the British Beer and Pub Association
joined forces to call for a complete ban. The BBPA said a
partial ban would put non-smoking pubs at an unfair
disadvantage compared with those where smoking was permitted.

A survey last year showed 72 percent of Britons wanted a
blanket ban on smoking, covering all workplaces, restaurants
and bars.

The government, fearing defeat if it insisted on its
manifesto proposal of a partial ban, said it would allow a free
vote, in which MPs do not have to follow party orders.

A spokeswoman for British Prime Minister Tony Blair said he
had voted for the total ban.

There are some 20,000 private clubs and 53,000 pubs in
England and Wales, according to the BBPA, and any premises that
ignore the ban will face a fine of up to 2,500 pounds.

The few exemptions to the new law will include prisons,
long stay care facilities and hotel bedrooms.