Health Bill [HL]

I certainly agree that it is Parliament’s duty to protect people’s individual rights, but Parliament prescribes the limit of those freedoms when there is a greater public good to be gained from their being restricted. The more we take measures that make it more difficult for tobacco to be sold to children and thus make it more difficult for children to start smoking and become addicted to this terrible product, the better it is. That is a legitimate aim of Parliament. It is legitimate to restrict freedoms when the greater good benefits as a result from it. Far from attacking retailers, I would see this as a huge benefit for them. The reputable retailers will be delighted that the retail sale of tobacco is licensed, because they will all I am sure take every effort to ensure that the product is not sold to people to whom it should not be sold, such as children, and it will do something to drive out the illegal selling of tobacco—