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Health Bill

moved Amendment No. 46:"Page 60, line 41, after ““section”” insert ““2,””" The noble Lord said: At first glance, this may seem like a purely technical and perhaps even trivial amendment. It is nothing of the sort. If it is agreed, it has the potential, first, to save the livelihood of a number of licensees who may be struggling financially, perhaps because they are sited in out-of-the-way locations and, secondly, to make all the difference to the comfort and wellbeing of those 45 per cent of pub customers who enjoy a pipe, cigar or cigarette with their pint. The amendment effectively relates to the question of what constitutes ““substantially enclosed””, which are places where, if the Bill remains unamended, smoking will no longer be permitted. When this issue was raised in Grand Committee, the Minister argued that the precise definition of ““substantially enclosed”” would be highly technical and accordingly best left to the negative resolution procedure—in contrast, let it be noted, to all the other proposed regulations in the Bill. However, he then revealed that the revised regulations—revised since last summer—that the Government had in mind for England were not at all complex or technical, but very simple and straightforward. They state that at least 50 per cent of the wall area of any room or other space to be exempted from the smoking ban would have to be open to the wind and rain. That applies to England only. The Welsh, through the medium of the Welsh Assembly, will be allowed to decide on their own formula. They could resolve that only 20 per cent to 25 per cent of the wall area needs to be open, or at the other extreme, that 70 per cent to 75 per cent of the perimeter wall must be exposed to the elements. We must concern ourselves this evening solely with England. We—by which I include the noble Baroness, Lady Boothroyd, who strongly supports the amendment and would have added her name to it had she been able to be present—submit that it is not necessary to declare that as much as 50 per cent of wall space must be open to the elements in order to protect employees. We should remember that, as it stands, the Bill will bite even where there are no employees. For example, it will hit a small partnership or even a husband and wife team, where both parties enjoy a cigarette equally. The Bill insists that they be protected from one another even if they have no wish to be so protected. The Government will no doubt argue that having 50 per cent of wall space open to the elements is unlikely to cause a problem on most summer days and on many late spring and early autumn days as well. I would not disagree. However, the winter months will be absolute hell—if hell can embrace being half frozen to death. High-level radiant heaters can help on a cold, still day when there is no wind or rain, but we do not get many such days in our Atlantic climate. The problem is that this is a Henry VIII Bill. I can well imagine the caustic comments that our late good friend Jack Simon, Lord Simon of Glaisdale, would have delivered had he still been with us. Henry VIII Bills deserve the closest parliamentary scrutiny. Giving both Houses more indirect input into the final regulations via the affirmative procedure would not necessarily result in a more equitable solution but it could, whereas the negative procedure would rule out any chance of effective parliamentary pressure. I hope that the Government will reconsider and accept this amendment, not least because it will rectify an anomaly, in that all the other regulations proposed in the Bill, many of relatively minor importance compared to this one, are subject to the affirmative procedure. If, sadly, they do not feel able to, I hope that the official Opposition will. For many years now, the Conservative logo has been the torch of freedom—or that is what I interpret it to be. One has read that the present leadership considers that logo to be out of date and is considering replacing it. I trust that that is not indicative of any weakening of enthusiasm for individual rights and freedoms—in particular, the individual rights and freedoms of unfashionable minorities. If the Government hold firm, I hope that the Opposition will join us in the Division Lobby. I beg to move.