Commons backs total smoking ban

24th February 2006:

The House of Commons has voted to ban smoking in every pub, club and indoor public space in England.

The Health Bill [www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmbills/110/2006110.htm] which was passed by 384 votes to 184 yesterday, will now go to the House of Lords where it is also expected to pass, leading to a total ban by mid-2007. Alex Markham, head of Cancer Research UK [www.cancerresearchuk.org/] welcomed the ban as the most important advance in public health since it was discovered that smoking causes lung cancer 50 years ago. But pro-smoking group Forest [www.forestonline.org/output/Page1.asp] condemned the ban as “totally unnecessary and completely illiberal”.

There are 53,000 pubs and 20,000 private clubs in England and Wales, according to the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) [www.beerandpub.com/content.asp?id_Content=1]. Any premises that ignore the ban will face a fine of up to £2500. Prisons, long-stay care facilities and hotel bedrooms will be exempt.

The Government initially proposed a partial ban, exempting private clubs and pubs that do not serve food. But this plan was opposed by Labour MPs, unions and the BBPA, which said a partial ban would put non-smoking pubs at an unfair disadvantage compared with those where smoking was permitted. England now joins Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales which have all banned smoking in all indoor public places or announced plans to do so.