News

The Prosser Perspective.... a weekly column from Dover and Deal MP Gwyn Prosser

28 June 2007

On St Valentines Day 2006 I was proud to be part of the Labour Government that voted to help people ‘love their lungs’ by banning smoking in enclosed public places. Without Labour’s commitment to tackle the ill-health caused by smoking, MPs would not have even had the chance to legislate on this important issue. As one of those who campaigned long and hard to bring in the legislation it was particularly pleasing but I was disappointed that the legal ban didn’t include the parliamentary estate.

From Sunday smoking will be banned in all enclosed public places in Dover and Deal and all of England. So places like pubs, clubs and restaurants will all be smoke free meaning we can enjoy a night out without coming home smelling of cigarette smoke. More importantly it is great news because of the positive effect a ban will have on people's health – it will save thousands of lives and protect millions of workers from second hand smoke.

Since the link between smoking and lung cancer was established there has been a steady fall off in smoking in the UK but a quarter of all adults in the country still smoke which is far too high. Every year nearly 120,000 people die because of smoking related illnesses - 33,000 deaths are caused by lung cancer. Life expectancy for a long-term smoker is on average a decade shorter than a non smoker so it’s good news that more people are becoming aware of the diseases caused by smoking.

But when a smoker quits it's not just their own lives they are saving - exposure to second hand smoke increases heart disease and lung cancer by around a quarter. That's why we are banning it in all enclosed public places. Many people have had to face the health risk of second hand smoke just by turning up to work, which is plainly wrong.

Some people oppose the ban in the belief that it will affect the takings of pubs and other caterers but that’s not been the experience north of the border where Wetherspoons reported a significant increase in revenue since Scotland went smoke free.

There will be those who disagree and I respect their right to do so but independent surveys show the vast majority of people support the ban and the fact is - it is up to Government to do the best they can to make the country healthier and a smoke free England will certainly do that.

So with all that damning evidence – why doesn’t the ban apply to the place where the people who voted for it hang out ? Well the parliamentary estate is still designated a Royal Palace and Royal Palaces are exempt from the Act. That would have been wholly wrong and that’s why my Labour colleagues and I made representations to the House authorities which have now resulted in the Palace of Westminster being totally smoke free from July 1st. Smoking will be banned in all the enclosed spaces - including of course the smoke room !