Doctors angry as smoking ban is limited and delayed until 2008

Plans to ban smoking in only some public places and to delay the introduction of the policy until the end of 2008 have been greeted with frustration and condemnation by health campaigners.

The announcement this week by the health secretary, John Reid, to restrict the smoking ban to restaurants and pubs which serve food, but to allow other pubs and private members' clubs to choose whether they ban smoking, will be confusing and difficult to enforce, said the BMA.

“I recognise that John Reid has certainly gone a long way on tobacco but he has wasted an opportunity by not introducing a complete ban on smoking in enclosed public places,” said James Johnson, chairman of the BMA. “It makes no sense to allow smoking in some pubs—what about the health and lives of employees who work in them?

“What concerns me is that by not introducing a complete ban, some pubs may find loopholes in the law to allow smoking. For example, if landlords brought …