Minister adopts MA's Room For All campaign
by Ewan Turney
The smoking ban saga in England and Wales is far from over as evidenced by a senior Labour cabinet minister admitting this week that the Government may give way to the Morning Advertiser's Room For All campaign and allow a separate smoking room in pubs that serve food.
Peter Hain, leader of the Commons and Secretary of State for Wales, told the Telegraph and Argus newspaper in Bradford that a more "common-sense" approach needed to be taken in implementing a smoking ban. "At the moment, the idea is that where food is being served there will be a smoking ban, but it has to be introduced in a common- sense fashion," he said.
"Pubs could say, Look, there's a part of this pub that doesn't serve food, we want to allow smokers in there' and you would be able to do that. Or a club might come along and say, We really don't serve food at all and we want our rights to apply a ban in this room but not in that bar'. That kind of thing."
Chairman of the industry charter group on smoking and Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) chief executive Nick Bish said although Hain's comments were "nothing official" it showed the "White Paper is still up for grabs". He said: "It shows there is an element of concern over the definition of food and they have not fully made up their minds yet."
British Beer & Pub Associa-tion director of communications Mark Hastings said: "When the paper was published, the Gov-ernment said there was a lot of detail to be developed and discussed. It is critical we ensure there is flexibility and certainty."
Hastings voiced concern that Hain had implied that pubsserving food would be able to apply for exemptions from local authorities. "The industry has always been clear on this issue allowing local authorities to have the decision making power is not appropriate," Hastings said.
Punch Taverns chief executive Giles Thorley believes Hain's suggestion would constitute a "sensible compromise" but would also need to be clearly defined. "A number of people have expressed concerns over the White Paper and I think it would be difficult to put it into legislation as it stands. For me, the consultation is all about the detail of timescales, how a ban will be enforced and if there is a separate room allowed, what is the definition?"
However, a Department of Health spokeswoman denied there had been a shift in policy.