BAN ON SMOKING IN PUBLIC PLACES

That this House congratulates the Government on the launch of its document, Smoking in Public Places, and warmly welcomes the code of practice; believes that this is a dramatic and major step forward in the campaign to make non-smoking the norm in all enclosed public places and that it is now only a question of time before smoking bans become statutory; notes that the Government has now accepted the growing public demand for smoke-free areas, that the majority of the population, who are non-smokers, are entitled to breathe smoke-free air, that breathing in other people's smoke kills, and that environmental tobacco smoke is anti-social and cannot adequately be removed by ventilation; and urges the Government immediately to make such bans compulsory.