Results 1-3 of 3 for smoking speaker:Mr Richard Allan

Orders of the Day — Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill: Exceptions (10 Feb 1999)

Mr Richard Allan: ...tempted, as we were on Second Reading, to speak about issues such as disease. We are discussing the criminal law, which decides what is or is not criminal. It is not criminal for people over 16 to smoke, but they are undoubtedly causing themselves medical harm. The fact that a particular activity may cause medical harm is not a reason to criminalise a person who chooses to engage in that...

Orders of the Day — Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill (25 Jan 1999)

Mr Richard Allan: ..., 16 is a sensible age at which we can assume that a young person has acquired sufficient responsibility. An age of permission is not the same as an age of compulsion. We do not require people to smoke when they reach 16, or to get married, and making something permissible in no sense makes it compulsory. We must always bear that in mind in the debate. I generally welcome the abuse of...

Orders of the Day — Crime and Disorder Bill [Lords]: Reduction in Age at Which Certain Sexual Acts are Lawful (22 Jun 1998)

Mr Richard Allan: The hon. Gentleman is wrong. Of course one can smoke at 16. That is not to say that it is advisable to start having sexual relations at 16, but simply that one should not be prosecuted for it. There is often confusion that lowering the age at which it is legal somehow makes it compulsory to have sex at 16. That is clearly not the case. I would certainly not advise starting so early, any more...