Britain moves to ban public smoking

LONDON - Four hundred years after King James I denounced tobacco as "loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs," the British government is taking heed. It announced plans Tuesday to ban smoking in most public places, including restaurants and any pub that serves food.

Antismoking activists welcomed the proposal, which would only apply to England, but criticized Health Secretary John Reid for letting smokers continue lighting up in some pubs and bars.

Still, it's a big step for a country that has had a long love-hate affair with tobacco. Britain's smoky pubs are at the heart of the nation's social life, and the trend in recent years toward "gastropubs" that serve meals as well as booze means the proposed ban will affect many drinking establishments.

Reid said 20 percent of pubs and bars would be exempt because they serve no food. Private social clubs are also exempt.

If approved by Parliament, the ban would be phased in, affecting pubs last, by the end of 2008.

"I think it's great and hopefully it will help me quit," said Dawn Benstead, having a cigarette in London's Covent Garden neighborhood. She is among the 26 percent of Britons who smoke.

Britain would be one of a handful of European countries to outlaw smoking in many public places since New York City made headlines with a strict ban last year.

Ireland became the first to ban smoking in all enclosed workplaces this year, and Norway and Sweden have followed suit. Last week, Scotland's government proposed banning smoking in all enclosed public places by 2006.

Officials in Wales have said they will seek authority from the central government to impose similar restrictions; no ban has been proposed in Northern Ireland.

Announcing the plan to the House of Commons, Reid said the measure was a fair compromise that respected people's right to make unhealthy choices, but not to harm others.

"This is a sensible solution, I believe, which balances the protection of the majority with the personal freedom of the minority in England," he said.

The British Beer and Pub Association, a pub owners' group, warned that a ban could prompt many to stop serving food, possibly causing customers to drink more.

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