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Health Bill [HL]

My Lords, my father died aged 57 and we always said that on the morning that he died, on the announcement of his death, both tobacco and drink shares went through the floor. We all know that smoking is the most disgusting habit ever—you cough up globules of green gunge; it makes you smell; and it probably kills you. But it is legal. My difficulty is that I have enormous sympathy with what my noble friend Lady O’Cathain said; I know that she is so right about stopping young children going to the green-gunge stage. Equally, the Government are raking in tonnes of money. Surely it would be more logical and more intellectually honest to say, "Smoking is banned. It does so much harm and therefore we should ban it altogether", than to hit small shopkeepers. So I find myself seeing both sides of the question. I do not wish an iota of harm to the signatories to the letter read out by the noble Lord, Lord Stoddart of Swindon. Equally, I agree with the noble Baroness, Lady O’Cathain. So just to be really helpful, I do not know which way I am going to vote today.