THE TELEGRAPH: Tobacco firms are set to be forced to sell cigarettes in plain, unbranded packets as the next step in the war on smoking.
Andy Burnham, the Health Secretary, will signal his support for the move as he launches the government's "tobacco control strategy" tomorrow which aims to halve the number of smokers in Britain by 2020.
In a major speech Mr Burnham will also pave the way for new "interventionist" policies aimed at stopping people smoking in their own homes or cars if they live with children.
However, he will stop short of planning an outright ban on domestic or in-car smoking – claiming this would be a move too far against freedom of choice.
Instead, ministers will consider banning the sale of cigarettes from vending machines, which they say currently provide far too easy access for children as they can be positioned near the entrances of pubs and clubs.
And the current ban on smoking in workplaces and "enclosed public places" such as pubs and workplaces could be extended to cover areas such as walkways and entrances to buildings, currently a favourite haunt of smokers exiled from inside.
Ministers will also announce a new crackdown on the import of cheap illicit cigarettes from abroad. >>> Patrick Hennessy, Political Editor | Saturday, January 30, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: Health secretary Andy Burnham keen to extend 2007 law / Plan to protect non-smokers and reduce UK smokers to 10%
Smokers could be forced to light up away from the entrances to public buildings under government moves aimed at ensuring that no more than one in 10 Britons smoke cigarettes.
The health secretary, Andy Burnham, now favours extending the 2007 landmark law which banned smoking in pubs, workplaces and other enclosed places, to prevent non-smokers having to walk through clouds of secondhand smoke.
The move comes as part of a wider attempt by Burnham to set out the case for state intervention to improve public health, insisting it does not amount to a nanny state. He will set out four principles where he says intervention is justified: where it protects the health of children, where a person's choice affects the choices of others, where barriers need to be removed to allow people to behave healthily, and where the environment can be shaped to offer healthier lifestyles.
Tomorrow's announcements will encourage cars and homes to remain smoke-free, but Burnham will stress that the state does not have a right to intervene in a private space, even to protect children. His department plans to "work with the public sector, business and the public to communicate the dangers of smoking in the home and the car".
Leading medical bodies such as the UK Faculty of Public Health back a legal ban on smoking in cars containing children, as does doctors' leader Professor Steve Field, who called it "a form of child abuse". But concern over what could be portrayed as an unwarranted interference in human rights is likely to limit any government action in advertising campaigns.
Burnham will also "carefully consider" the case for forcing all cigarettes to be stripped of their distinctive wrapping and sold instead in plain brown packets, in order to reduce their appeal. There will also be renewed action against black market tobacco, a ban on tobacco vending machines and extra NHS support for those who want to quit. >>> Denis Campbell and Patrick Wintour | Monday, February 01, 2010
