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Health Bill

As I have spent my entire professional life in the theatre, it will be no great surprise to anyone, particularly in view of what I had to say on Second Reading, to see my name on this amendment. I have very little to add to what the noble Earl has said in support of his own amendment—other than to take slight issue with him over his reference to ““maverick”” and ““perverse”” productions. It is fair to say that the history of theatre, certainly in the time that I have been involved in it, shows that there are many ways of presenting, for instance, the plays of Shakespeare; occasionally, they are presented in a way that is neither maverick nor perverse but does involve dress and habits that relate to a time that is not Shakespeare’s. On those occasions, therefore, there are reasons why smoking might be appropriate. I say that not in order to make further special cases, but to point out that the exercise of artistic judgment and licence is part of what necessarily has to happen for theatre and other forms of dramatic presentation to remain alive and not to become fixed in any particular time or style. I would therefore not like the assumption to be made that some kind of policing of whether it is appropriate to smoke on stage based on artistic judgment should fall to either the law or those enforcing the regulations that flow from the law. The issue was raised on Second Reading by the noble Baroness, Lady Howarth, who unfortunately is not in her place, of the possibility of glamorising smoking through presentation in theatre, television and film. We cannot ignore that issue, because there are circumstances in which the presentation of an image of smoking can affect the way in which people see it. That said, it is rare these days for performance to do that. It is much more damaging when performers, in their ordinary lives, allow themselves to be seen and photographed smoking. I find that that has a far greater impact on the way in which smoking is perceived than anything that they might do on stage or on screen. With that, I simply add my voice in support of this amendment, in the hope that the Government, having thought about this issue, will be able to say something hopeful on the subject.