[Mr. Eric Illsley in the Chair]
Health Bill
11:15 am
Caroline Flint (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department of Health; Don Valley, Labour)
I thank the hon. Member for Northavon for raising that point. Early in our deliberations, we discussed ventilation. There was common acceptance by all hon. Members that, although one might get rid of the visible evidence of smoke, carcinogens can remain in the air. Therefore, the evidence suggests a continuing effect. The time that one spends in that atmosphere will also have an effect, so it is hard to set a completely prescriptive standard.
Part and parcel of this debate is the Government’s determination to work with what we know about effects on health, but also to address a cultural shift to a smoke-free environment, rather than a smoking environment with smoke-free exceptions. Not only the health evidence, about which we have learned more over a number of decades, but public requests for further regulation have been important to our decisions. Given what we have said about other working environments that will be covered by a total ban, it would be illogical if we were to create a different environment for vehicles that are part of a working and business environment.