Health Bill [Lords]

I am happy to listen to the case for any amendments to improve people's health and stop the selling of a substance that creates ill health and is addictive. I think that a member of the Conservative Government in the early 1990s said that if tobacco had been discovered and brought to this country today, it would be banned. I think that most people agree. However, it was discovered long ago and has not been banned. When we examine suggestions of lack of evidence, we must remember where they come from. We do not rely only on the experience of Iceland and Canadian provinces, which show—in the real world—how putting an end to promotional displays reduces youth smoking. We also have a wealth of scientific evidence to show how that works. Earlier this year, researchers in New Zealand published a systematic review of the evidence. Seven out of eight studies found a significant link between exposure to point- of-sale display and smoking initiation. Another study—this time of adults—found that even pictures of cigarette packs provoked cravings among smokers, and a third of recent ex-smokers reported urges to smoke after seeing tobacco displays. That is, in miniature, a version of the debates that we had back in the early '90s and late '90s about billboards and posters in this country. Billboards did not even have to have tobacco products on them—all they needed was a bit of purple cloth, and most people with an inquiring mind would know exactly what they were about. The name of the product did not have to be there; people knew what was going on. That is how tobacco—and, for that matter, other products—have been promoted for decades in this country. Indeed, tobacco is still promoted in that form in places that retail it. An even more recent study, which was published just last month, shows that tobacco promotional displays in the US are concentrated in low-income minority ethnic neighbourhoods. Interviews with shopkeepers reveal that contacts with tobacco companies left shopkeepers with little or no control over such displays. The tobacco companies make the decisions about where displays go, and if shopkeepers do not comply, they are penalised under incentive programmes. A study of tobacco displays in England conducted last summer also found evidence of similarly coercive relationships. That study found half of all displays within one metre of sweets displays, while one in five displays obscured the health warnings. One retailer explained:""Display is owned by the tobacco company. When move briefs around by a deadline, trader has either star points or money donated…Tobacco company takes photos to prove briefs changed by deadline."" The health and medical communities are united—I read the list of supporters out earlier. The research clearly shows that tobacco displays increase awareness of tobacco brands and prompt purchase among young people, and that jurisdictions that have put an end to such displays have seen youth smoking fall. There can be no question about that. No matter how one wants to dress it up or who pays for the research to do that, the peer-reviewed evidence is there for all to see. However, if the opinion of the leading researchers and health campaigners and the royal colleges were not enough, Channel 4's FactCheck service concludes on its website that""the evidence points pretty firmly the government's way. And to say, as the opposition parties do, that there's no evidence the ban will have an effect on smoking among young people seems pretty misleading."" I say this to Opposition Members: go on FactCheck's website and have a look at what it has found. The people at FactCheck are not supported by the TMA or the Government; they are people who have done open, individual research with our constituents about what should and should not happen. Let me say a few words about the economic counter-arguments. Hon. Members will remember the mailbags filled with letters from the hospitality trade, which was genuinely alarmed by the effect that smoke-free legislation would have on its business. The tobacco industry told those businesses that the impact of such legislation would be devastating and they believed that, but it was not true. In the years following the introduction of smoke-free legislation, the number of premises licensed to sell alcohol in England increased by 5 per cent. Hon. Members will remember the claims sent to them about 39 pubs closing every week. However, that evidence, wherever it came from, was hardly independent and it cannot be verified. Such research does not say how many pubs closed before the legislation or how many new premises have opened since. Also, it often attributes changes entirely to the regulations, ignoring the recession, the long-term trends in the pub trade and—this relates to the Health Committee's current inquiry—the pricing and availability of alcohol. The British Beer and Pub Association sent all hon. Members evidence of where pubs had been closing. However, about three months ago I did a study of the borough of Rotherham—I am one of three hon. Members who represent it. I looked at the previous 12 months—the period for which the British Beer and Pub Association had sent us evidence—and found that there were actually four more pubs than there had been 12 months previously. I therefore find the idea of 39 pubs a day closing because of smoke-free legislation—or, for that matter, anything else—difficult to believe. I know that people in Rotherham like a drink, as I do now and again, but I do not think that the closure of 39 pubs a day is a real measure of what was happening. We must therefore always be careful when people send us briefs about proposed legislation. Also, when shopkeepers say that the changeover will cost them £5,000 or £2,000, they are again quoting the tobacco industry. On closer examination, some of those costs include not only the cost of installing CCTV, but the cost of closing the shop to do so. That is hardly a truthful analysis of the cost of the changeover. The real costs would be much lower, with both Action on Smoking and Health and the Department of Health having been quoted a cost of around £200 by leading Canadian suppliers, who have some experience of such matters. Small shops will also have until 2013 to comply, whereas larger shops will have until, I think, 2011, so there will be a lot of experience around to help with any costs to the small tobacco retailers we have discussed. Vending machines are also covered in the Bill, although I am a little confused, because we are giving the Government powers to take action in respect of vending machines without knowing what action we would like taken. However, perhaps that is a good thing—that is fine; that is okay.