§ LORD AIREDALEMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government, since the Commissioners of H.M. Customs and Excise report a continued rise in domestic consumption of tobacco despite a rise in the price of cigarettes, whether they propose to intensify their anti-smoking campaign.
§ THE MINISTER WITHOUT PORTFOLIO (LORD ABERDARE)My Lords, as soon as the revised list of the tar and nicotine yields of the various brands of cigarettes sold in the United Kingdom is published next month the Health Education Council will launch a further anti-smoking campaign.
§ LORD AIREDALEMy Lords, I am much obliged for that encouraging Answer. Are not the Government appalled at the fact that, despite all their efforts up to date, we still have a rising consumption of tobacco in this country?
§ LORD ABERDAREMy Lords, it is interesting, if one looks back a bit, to see that it has fallen to some extent. Cigarette sales, by weight of tobacco, for example, were some 10 per cent. less in 1972 than in 1960.
§ LORD FOOTMy Lords, have the Government any evidence that the previous publication of the figures about tar and nicotine had any effect on the consumption of cigarettes?
§ LORD ABERDAREMy Lords, the object of publishing these figures was to encourage people to switch to safer brands of cigarette It is too early to say whether or not this has in fact happened.
§ LORD PLATTMy Lords, do Her Majesty's Government recall the words of the Chief Medical Officer of Health in his report on the state of the public health for the year 1972, when he said:
It is manifestly not in the public interest that the cigarette should be so constantly presented as a desirable adjunct to sophisticated living"?Do Her Majesty's Government agree with that statement?
§ LORD ABERDAREMy Lords, we have taken the view that it would be difficult to ban further advertising of cigarettes because they are still legally sold and there is still competition between brands, and we have no evidence that such a ban would in fact reduce smoking.
§ LORD RHODESMy Lords, may I ask the Minister whether tobacco is an item in the cost-of-living index?
§ LORD ABERDAREMy Lords, I am not sure. I cannot answer that question without notice.
§ BARONESS SUMMERSKILLMy Lords, may I ask whether the noble Lord is confident that the report on tar and nicotine will be published next month, or is this wishful thinking?
§ LORD ABERDAREMy Lords, it is due to be published next month, but in present conditions one is never quite sure about printing.