SMOKING IN PUBLIC PLACES

Early day motion 1292, tabled 26 May 2004 by Julie Morgan (Labour). Signed by 124 members.

That this House notes that the overwhelmingly majority of medical studies have shown that passive smoking is severely detrimental to human health; further notes that, according to a recent Imperial College London study, one person working in the hospitality industry is killed every week by the effects of passive smoking and that according to other studies, smoking is the cause of 32,000 deaths from lung cancer and 11,000 from other cancers every year; further notes that the Department of Health has initiated a major consultation exercise on smoking in public places that will form part of a White Paper later this year and that the Welsh Assembly is beginning a similar consultation; rejects the notion that a ban on smoking in public places would be illiberal and believes that a ban would act as an encouragement for heavy smokers to kick the habit; and calls upon Her Majesty's Government to introduce legislation to ban the smoking of tobacco in public places forthwith.

Signatures by party: Labour 92, Labour/Co-operative 14, Liberal Democrat 11, Plaid Cymru 3, UUP 3, Independent 1.