Health Bill [Lords]

I shall not detain the House for too long; I rise just to support the Third Reading of the Bill. Opposition Members have said that it is something of an omnibus Bill, but I wish to comment on the small parts relating to tobacco. When the Bill has passed through all its stages, it will finish off some of this House’s unfinished business on the advertising and promotion of tobacco in this country. The Bill containing the "ad ban", as it was popularly called, went through the House a number of years ago. We can assume that most of it was implemented to good effect, because the level of smoking is decreasing in all categories, although among teenage girls and young women the situation is a bit difficult. The ad ban legislation introduced by this Government was supposed to eliminate anything""(a) whose purpose is to promote a tobacco product, or""(b) whose effect is to do so"." I submit to the House that for years we have been banning the advertising and promotion of tobacco, but the tobacco companies have been using the point of sale to promote tobacco. That loophole, which has existed since that legislation was put through, has been closed by tonight’s decisions. I say that because of the evidence I have in front of me, which includes a quote from Geoff Good, the global brand director of Imperial Tobacco, concerning the limited edition Lambert & Butler celebration packs, which increased sales by £60 million. He said that""the pack design was the only part of the mix that was changed, and therefore we knew the cause and effect"." Packs have been used to promote tobacco since the advertising ban came in. The Benson & Hedges Silver slide—the neat package that slides open as opposed to flipping open at the top, for example—was described as follows:""Slide is all about packaging"." It""appeals to young adult smokers and research shows they will buy into innovations such as unique packs"." The Benson and Hedges Silver slide pack increased market share by 57.5 per cent.—that is worth about £120 million—within 18 months of its introduction. A Gallaher spokesman stated that""marketing restrictions make the pack the hero"." It is clear that that has been the case for many years. If this legislation is brought in, packs will be brought from outside covers, they will be taken around and people will have them in their pocket, but they will not be seen when people go into a tobacco retailer. The test will be whether the holograms and everything else that attract young people in particular disappear from these packs in a few years’ time.