Welsh MP pushes for devolved power on smoking
Cardiff North MP Julie Morgan is to table a Private Member’s Bill which would give the Welsh Assembly the power to end smoking in Wales.
As Ms Morgan came fourth in the recent Private Members’ Bill ballot, her motion will get parliamentary time, but it is highly unlikely to become law unless the Government decide to back her bill.
But, there have been suggestions in the past that the Government might look at giving Wales the power to make decisions on the matter. Scotland has full control in this area and is bringing forward a ban on smoking in all public places.
Ms Morgan’s bill will be formally announced in Westminster on January 12th 2005, and is backed by public health bodies such as the British Medical Association Wales and Action on Smoking and Health (ASH).
Explaining her motivation, Ms Morgan, said: “There is overwhelming backing in Wales for a new law to end smoking in all workplaces and enclosed public places. Similar laws have been proved successful in New York, Ireland and elsewhere. I am delighted to get the chance to support calls from the National Assembly to be given the powers it needs to act.
“Although the UK Government’s White Paper was a major step in the right direction, the Welsh people want us to go further. Exempting some pubs and clubs from smoking restrictions would just reduce the impact of a new law, as well as making health inequalities worse. Ending smoking in the workplace would protect vulnerable employees and members of the public from the damaging effects of breathing other people’s smoke. It would also persuade many smokers to quit, and save thousands of lives every year. The time for action is now.”
The Welsh secretary of the BMA, Dr Richard Lewis said: “The banning of smoking in public places would be the single most important public health act that a government could do. Hundreds if not thousands of people who inhale second hand smoke – passive smokers – die a horrible death every year in Wales. The sooner a ban is in place. The sooner we shall see a marked decline in the Welsh morbidity figures.”
