Health Bill [HL]

I thank the noble Baroness for her reply. I understand that she is being cautious in reaching a rather poor compromise rather than going for full prohibition straight away. Frankly, I do not understand why she feels she needs to do that. It does not seem to me that it is in the interests of small shop keepers. It is not in the interests of smokers, as the noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours, said. As someone who has given up smoking at least 20 times—for the past 20 years, successfully—I understand precisely that having cigarettes available in a bar makes it too convenient to get hold of them. Further, it does not seem to prevent underage people getting hold of cigarettes. I come back to the point made by the noble Baroness, Lady O’Cathain, and the article from the Irish Times which she has just handed to me. Restrictions introduced to stop children gaining access to cigarettes and vending machines may work in the first instance, but we underestimate children. They will rapidly learn to get round those restrictions, however complicated we make them. The normal lures of the market economy will apply. I would not be surprised if children soon began to trade in tokens in playgrounds and schools. That is what always happens in these situations. We will get into an escalating arms race, as it were, introducing ever more complicated methods to try to stop children using these machines, and children will get a cracking education in learning how to get round the restrictions we introduce. Therefore, I do not see the point in the caution. I hope that the noble Baroness will reconsider it between now and Report. Having said all that, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment 87 withdrawn.