Clause 2 - Smoke-free premises
Health Bill
12:15 pm
Steve Webb (Shadow Secretary of State for Health, Health; Northavon, Liberal Democrat)
Let me re-phrase that. The Minister seemed to imply that that was in some sense sufficient for those workers and that they would get no more protection than that. If we have decided that other workers need more protection because we are doing their health harm, I cannot see how it is sufficient not to put in the Bill something that guarantees those workers’ safety. In many ways, the workers who are still going to be exposed to second-hand smoke after the Bill is enacted are in the worst position of all. We ought to worry about those people and not just say, “We’re helping some people, so blow the rest.” There should be something quite explicit, up front in the Bill to guarantee the rights of the workers who are still going to be exposed. That is our concern.