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Health Bill

moved Amendment No. 51:"Page 9, line 1, at end insert ““or higher than 18””" The noble Earl said: Amendment No. 51 picks up a point made by the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee about the power in this clause to amend the age at which a person may legally be sold tobacco. I am personally in favour of raising the minimum age to 18, because it would be a balanced and proportionate thing to do. However, the point that the committee made was that the clause would not prevent the Government specifying an even higher age than that if they chose to. We need to consider very carefully the civil liberties implications of denying anyone over 18 the right to be sold tobacco, which, albeit a harmful product, is nevertheless a legal product. I am perturbed that no explicit upper age limit is given in Clause 13(2). Why is that? What are the Government’s intentions in that area? I beg to move.