Clause 1 - Prohibition of tobacco advertising
Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Bill
2:30 pm
Mr Ian Bruce (South Dorset, Conservative)
This is a complicated matter, so I will finish my argument, but I will happily give way soon.
Why did the Government not stay silent on the internet issue and take the view that, whatever is legal in the real world is legal in the internet world and whatever is illegal in the real world is illegal in the internet world? Instead, they relied on what might happen when people try to promote and use the law that they are trying to introduce. By giving the internet specific exclusions, they have left a loophole—a great portal—in the Bill, whereby all such regulations will be challenged. They will be challenged in the international courts, because that is what happened with the directive from the European Commission.