Health minister hits back at trade
Scottish Health Minister Andy Kerr has hit out at pub bosses who said the smoking ban had severely hit Christmas trade.
The Scottish Licensed Trade Association said the impact of the ban had been "as bad as it possibly can be".
Chief executive Paul Waterson said: "Growth in drink sales in Scotland's pubs is running at less than half that in England and that's because of the smoking ban.
"It's a very gloomy picture for the licensed trade in Scotland."
However Kerr hit back saying: "There's a brutal answer to that. This is about public health, it's about saving lives - it's not about businesses.”
The results of a Scottish Executive survey into the impact of the ban are due in March.
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