§ Mr. Patrick Jenkinasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement in the light of the advice of the Health Education Council that health warnings on cigarette packs are resented by the public and may therefore be counter-productive.
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§ Mr. EnnalsI know of no scientific evidence which would indicate that the health warning itself is resented by the public. An investigation carried out for the Department indicated that the attribution of the warning to the Government might be counter-productive and it was for this reason that we negotiated a change of attribution from "HM Government" to "HM Government Health Departments". Indeed the evidence available to me suggests that smokers generally tend to approve rather than disapprove of the health warning; and that for a significant body of smokers it has led them to choose a brand with a lower tar yield. This is an aim of the Government's strategy. The change in the wording I have recently announced should also increase its impact. The revised warning is now to appear for the first time on advertisements. Any reservation about the effectiveness of the warning is, in my judgment, far outweighed by the almost certain consequences of its removal from packets and by its appearance on advertisements.