Health Bill

e have not had the pleasure of the noble Lord’s company in a number of the debates in Committee, but he will have heard us several times explain that the purpose of the Bill is to stop people being exposed to second-hand smoke in enclosed public places and workplaces. My noble and learned friend Lord Falconer is extremely articulate and convincing on that issue. That is also about their choices and freedoms as well as the choices and freedoms of smokers. He will no doubt know from a keen study of the Human Rights Act that it balances rights and responsibilities in a modern society, and that is what we are doing in the Bill. We are protecting people from suffering the ill health hazards of second-hand smoke in particular places, which are defined in the Bill. We do not set out in the Bill to stop people smoking in their own homes or in other places not covered by its restrictions.