LABOUR is preparing to go into the next election with a manifesto commitment to ban smoking in public places, it emerged yesterday.
Alan Milburn, the former health secretary, is drawing up Labour’s manifesto for the next general election, expected next year.
He is understood to have won approval from senior Cabinet members to include a ban on smoking in public places as party
policy.
Labour is hoping that individual parts of the UK - such as Scotland and London - will take action first, thus easing the progress of the country-wide ban.
A spokesman for Mr Milburn said: "A smoking ban in public places will be with us soon. It is necessary, it is overdue and it will improve the nation’s health."
Mr Milburn has studied the effects of the smoking bans introduced in the Republic of Ireland and in New York, which his spokesman described as "a huge success".
The Scottish Executive has approached the issue cautiously, despite the presence of a member’s bill to ban smoking in public places in Scotland in the Scottish Parliament at the moment. Ministers have consistently argued that they want to see how the code of conduct for smoking, which includes voluntary bans, works in practice before backing an enforced ban.
But there are members of the Executive, including Cabinet members, who believe the administration should be more pro-active and back an outright ban.
It is understood that the Northern Ireland Office has come under pressure to follow its counterparts in the south and introduce a limited ban covering all bars, restaurants and workplaces that would be seen as a trial area for the rest of the UK.
Yesterday, Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, backed calls for a smoking ban.
Mr Kennedy, himself a smoker, said there was a clash between the right to smoke and not to have your health damaged by others. But he insisted the health argument was overwhelming.
Mr Kennedy said he had been sceptical about the move in Dublin and did not think it would succeed. But if it could work there, it could work anywhere. Asked if he would vote for a ban in Britain. he said: "I think I probably will, yes."
He told Sky News: "If it comes to that I will be on the prohibition side of the argument on this one because I do think the overwhelming health argument points in that direction."
In another development, smokers were urged to kick the habit for the sake of their wealth if not their health.
Smokers in the UK spend about £6 billion on tobacco every year, with some households splashing out more than £3,000 on cigarettes each year.
To mark World No Tobacco Day, the information was produced by the NHS Smoking Helpline.
The average smoker has 14 cigarettes a day - the equivalent of £1,050 a year. But a 40-a-day smoker will spend £3,000 a year on their habit.
John Reid, the Health Secretary was a heavy smoker before giving up. He said: "I know from personal experience that giving up is difficult - one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I also know that everybody needs their own motivation to stop smoking."
Tobacco kills five million people per year worldwide - one person every 6.5 seconds.
