[ian@huth]

It is going to be a couple of years before any ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces that serve food is implemented, if then. Would that time be too close to a general election for it to be on the agenda then? There can be many delaying tactics used to bring it even nearer to general election time and many amendments will probably be on the cards.

When, and if, it eventually gets on the statute books it will have one immediate effect. Many pubs which currently serve food will stop selling food. That will mean that the non-smoker will have even less choice of pubs than they now have if they wish to escape the smoke. They will also have less choice of places where they can eat.

The only sensible solution is to only ban smoking in parts of pubs where food is consumed and allow smoking areas to exist in other parts of the pub.