Furious reaction to partial smoking ban

ANTI-SMOKING campaigners in Britain reacted with fury last night to a U-turn that will let people carry on lighting up in clubs and some pubs.

Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt’s announcement of a partial ban follows days of fierce wrangling among the cabinet.

Private members’ clubs and pubs that do not serve food will now be exempt under proposals being published today.

Backbench Labour MPs and TUC boss Brendan Barber joined health experts in condemning the decision.

Professor Alex Markham, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said: “People will die as a consequence of this half-hearted decision.

“The scandalous fact is that the Government is fully aware of this, and is reneging on its fundamental duty to protect the people.”

The decision is a defeat for Ms Hewitt who pushed for tougher measures and publicly described the proposals as “unworkable”.

Critics blamed her predecessor John Reid, the Defence Secretary, for forcing colleagues to abandon a more wide ranging ban.

Ms Hewitt faces an uncomfortable grilling over the plans from an influential committee of MPs today.

And there is more argument to come over the detail of how to put into practice legislation which faces a rough ride in the Commons.

The proposals were contained in Labour’s election manifesto but swiftly deemed too difficult to implement.

There were questions about whether pubs could allow smoking if they offered snacks and concerns that those in the poorest areas would stop serving food, encouraging binge drinking.

However, Dr Reid was adamant that private members should be allowed to decide whether or not smoking was allowed.

Membership clubs, though, will be exempt from the ban, and non-food pubs and bars will be “free to choose whether to allow smoking, or be smoke- free”.

Smoking at the bar will be prohibited in all venues, and the Government will consult on how this can be achieved - whether by introducing separate smoking rooms or areas to protect staff.

A review will be carried out after three years to measure the impact of the changes.