Smokers choke on 'injustice' as ban startsBy Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs CorrespondentPublished: 02 July 2007The historic right to smoke in public places in England was extinguished in an instant yesterday, with only a handful of rebels puffing away in defiance.At the stroke of 6am, lighting a cigarette or cigar became illegal in confined spaces shared by England's 50 million people. The Health Secretary, Alan Johnson, hailed the introduction of the ban - the biggest smoking ban in the world - as an important step towards a healthier population.Almost all enclosed public places are now smoke-free, including offices, warehouses, factories, pubs, cafes, working vehicles and leisure centres. Only prisons, submarines and hospices are exempt.Mr Johnson said: "Labour has taken action to protect people from smoke in their workplace, pub or cafe. A smoke-free country will improve the health of thousands of people ... I am thrilled that my first major announcement as Health Secretary enacts the single most important public health legislation."England was the last part of the UK to ban smoking, following a ban in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Irish Republic has also banned smoking in public. Anyone lighting up in a public place faces a £50 fine - reduced to £30 if paid within 15 days. Owners of pubs, clubs and cafes face much stiffer punishment, with fines of £2,500, for every cigarette smoked on their premises.At first, local councils are expected to adopt a "softly softly" approach to enforcement, with verbal warnings rather than court action. But a determined band of smokers defied the ban in protest at what they said was an unreasonable curtailment of their liberty.Hundreds of smokers sparked up cigarettes and cigars during a "mass light up" at The Swan in Churchgate, Bolton. By midday, the pub was already packed out with more than 100 smokers. The landlord, Nick Hogan, who invited local publicans to the event, said: "I'm not pro-smoking, but I am pro-choice. We are not sticking two fingers up at the Government, we are making a peaceful protest at a piece of legislation that is discriminatory. All we are asking for is a compromise." A similar protest was held by Tony Blows at The Dog Inn in Ewys Harold, near Hereford.The pro-smoking campaign, Freedom2Choose, estimates that up to 3,000 of its members - including owners of social clubs - may refuse to implement the ban. The group has challenged the ban on human rights grounds at the High Court in a bid to "fight against injustice and erosion of freedom and personal liberties".More than three-quarters of the general public and 73 per cent of regular pub-goers support the ban, according to the Department of Health.One of the world's leading experts on the effects of tobacco, Professor Sir Richard Peto, has estimated that it will prevent up to half a million deaths a year on the experience of Ireland, where cigarette sales fell by 17 per cent. A similar trend in England could lead to 1.5 million people quitting smoking, where sales of cessation products such as nicotine patches and gum have been rising for weeks.The TUC general secretary, Brendan Barber - who estimated the lives of 700 workers a year would be saved - said: "Passive smoking is the third biggest cause of deaths at work, after asbestos and road accidents."The chef Antony Worrall Thompson, a supporter of the Forest smoking group, described the ban as an "infringement of civil liberties" and pledged that campaigners would "fight on".The singer Joe Jackson, who quit New York because of its smoking ban, said: "I happen to be allergic to dogs [but] I'm not screaming for a total dog ban."
