SMOKING IN PUBS

That this House believes that the person best placed to know how to run his pub and to assess how to accommodate and meet his customers' needs most appropriately is the local landlord; believes that a ban on smoking in pubs would be illiberal and would remove the right of millions of law abiding people to enjoy a relaxing drink and smoke in their local pubs; believes that a smoking ban would have a seriously detrimental effect on the licensed trade; understands that many staff who work in pubs smoke themselves; notes that a number of smaller country pubs don't actually employ any staff at all anyway; recognises that people considering working in pubs make that choice knowing that they may well encounter smoky atmospheres at work; also recognises that people going into pubs for social purposes make that same choice; believes that preventing people from smoking in pubs in order to protect those who work in pubs, who may be smokers themselves anyway, is inconsistent with, for example, allowing people to work down coal mines and with chemicals; believes that, if there is a demand for non-smoking pubs, or pubs which have both smoking and non-smoking areas, the free market would deliver such establishments; and totally rejects the idea of a ban on smoking in pubs, believing it is the responsibility of the pub landlord to decide what kind of establishment he wishes to run, having due regard to his customers and staff.