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Health Bill

I must be wearing down the noble Lord. He clearly knows what is coming and I do not want to upset him or disappoint him in any way. I shall just repeat very briefly what I said on the earlier amendment. This matter was considered in the other place and it voted in favour of a comprehensive ban on a free vote. We see no point in this House seeking to overturn the set of changes that were passed in the other House. But, as I said earlier, if an amendment is tabled on this issue on Report or at Third Reading, as far as my party is concerned there will be a free vote. I should like to put on record that the position we are in now has a very strong element of public support. A December 2005 YouGov opinion poll, commissioned by Cancer Research UK and the public health charity ASH, revealed that over 70 per cent of respondents supported a total ban on smoking in public places and workplaces. That suggests to me that, whatever the rights and wrongs of the decision-making process, the other place got it right in reflecting public opinion by the majority with which it passed a comprehensive ban. In my view, that was the right decision in terms of public health and public opinion. If we do have a debate on this issue on Report or on Third Reading, I will urge that this House should uphold the decision of the other place.