Doctors call for smoking ban to follow Irish lead

Pressure is mounting on the Government to follow the lead of the Irish Republic, which last week announced that from next year it will outlaw smoking in all restaurants and in pubs where food is served.

The British Medical Association has renewed its call for a ban on smoking in public places in the UK in a report that concluded that passive smoking is responsible for 1,000 deaths a year.

Meanwhile, Clive Bates, director of lobby group Ash (Action on Smoking and Health), said he hoped the Irish example would shame the Government into action, as it had dragged its feet for four years over proposals to apply the Health and Safety at Work Act to passive smoking.

However, Henry O'Neill, chief executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, warned that such a ban would create major problems, particularly with European customers: "We have a lot of European tourists whose culture is to smoke and who aren't used to restrictions such as this."

Ash, which is seeking support from MPs for a private member's bill, sees a UK ban progressing more slowly than in Ireland. Its proposed bill would give local authorities the right to ban smoking in restaurants and pubs as part of licensing reform.

Martin Couchman, deputy chief executive of the British Hospitality Association (BHA), said the Government would have to respond if doctors could prove passive smoking was a killer; but, he added, the BHA has not generally been supportive of heavy-handed legislation.

He said that putting the matter into the hands of local authorities would create inconsistencies countrywide that ran counter to the aims of licensing reform.

The voluntary Public Places Charter meant there were some smoking restrictions in most premises, and Couchman believed the restrictions would widen over time.

by Angela Frewin and Anthony Garvey

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 14 - 20 November 2002