Full smoking ban ‘only a matter of time’
Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt today maintained that a complete ban on smoking in public places in England was inevitable.
Ms Hewitt told doctors that a blanket smoking ban would be the natural next step once a partial ban had been implemented.
Despite being the first Health Secretary to address the British Medical Association, she was initially jeered by delegates for the Government’s failure to push through plans for a full smoking ban – something the BMA has been lobbying for.
The Government has launched a public consultation into a ban on smoking in enclosed public places by 2008, excluding pubs that do not serve or prepare food.
Speaking in Manchester, Ms Hewitt reiterated the Government’s stance on a smoking ban, stating: “We are going to move to a ban on smoking in virtually all enclosed public places.
“This will apply to all the NHS by the end of next year, all enclosed workplaces by the end of 2007, with the exception of licensed premises, and in 2008 will include licensed premises as well.”
And in a move that distanced her from predecessor John Reid, she added that from this point a smoking ban would become inevitable, adding: “It is probably only a matter of time before we get to the same position as Scotland and Ireland.”
This admission was welcomed by BMA chairman James Johnson, who said: “It seems we are going to get a full ban. The health secretary can’t state it is going to happen, but that was a nod [in the direction] we are going.”
