I have been very patient. Let me first declare my interest: I am a member of the Lords and Commons Cigar Club. Although I am a non-smoker, they tolerate me. I suppose I am an associate member rather than a full one.

The more I have listened to this debate—and I have listened to the whole of it—the more I feel that it should have been about a Bill to abolish tobacco. It has not really been about packaging but about the evils of tobacco and the tobacco companies. The attack on the tobacco companies by the noble Lord, Lord Faulkner, was one of the best I have ever heard him make. No doubt they will take note of what he said. However, the noble Viscount, Lord Falkland, was right. If we believe that tobacco is so dangerous—the noble Lord, Lord Walton, had no doubts about how dangerous it is—we should bring forward a Bill to ban tobacco as a dangerous drug. So long as that is not done, all this talk about tobacco is sheer hypocrisy. The Government are hypocritical about it because they do not want to lose the money that it gives to the Exchequer. They are trying to get rid of tobacco smoking but they will not come out and say so in the open. They will do it by stealth. This order is one of stealth.

I have been in this House since 1983 and in that time have spent some 25 years talking about tobacco and restrictions on it. Indeed, I remember that during the last Government I sat in a committee on the same side as the Minister, who then opposed the—what was it called?—ban on tobacco display. We were on the same side at that particular time, as he will recall. That went through but, of course, it has not yet been fully implemented. It does not come fully into law until April. Before we have the display ban, we now have the plain packaging ban. It would be useful if we could implement previous legislation before we start bringing forward more legislation. Does the House not think that that is sensible? The Government obviously do not think that it is.

Then there is the ban on smoking in cars; even that has not come into operation yet. It is now beginning to be understood that it will be difficult to enforce. It seems to me that it was absurd to pass such legislation, because the fumes coming into the car all the time, as they do, are probably more dangerous than the occasional smoke that the driver or passenger in the car might care to have. It would be useful if we could implement those laws that we have passed before we put yet another law on the statute book.

In relation to tobacco itself, as I have said, I am a non-smoker, but I resent the demonisation of people who do smoke. It is not right in a democracy that we should treat such people as pariahs. That is what is happening to them and I believe that that should not be done in a democracy.

When the noble Earl introduced the regulations, he said that this provision would not be extended to other foods or habits—but he will probably find that he is on the wrong track. I was reading in today’s Times a little piece which says that Susan Jebb, the Government’s obesity adviser, wants snacking on the move and eating meals without vegetables to become socially unacceptable. She wants the Government to learn from tobacco control. If that is what the Government’s own adviser has said, quite clearly further restrictions may be on the way.

Before I sit down I will talk about some other dangers that people face, for example from alcohol. It has been said in this debate that tobacco is the most dangerous drug. I can assure your Lordships that it is not; the most dangerous drug is alcohol. In fact, it is not only responsible for disease—I saw a figure yesterday saying that it causes £50 billion of harm to the National Health Service—but socially bad as well. If people smoke a cigarette, they do not go home and beat up their wives and children. People who are full of alcohol very often do that. Outside pubs, people also get stabbed but they do not get stabbed if they smoke a cigarette. So alcohol is the most dangerous drug, yet it is advertised certainly as much as tobacco, and perhaps even more. Bottles and cans of alcohol are full of great advertisements and colourful—yet, as I have said, it is the most dangerous drug that there is.

Finally, we are now told—in some papers, anyway—that obesity is more dangerous than tobacco, which contradicts everything that has been said here this afternoon. When the Minister says that the Government do not intend to go on to other products and bring in bans or restrictions on advertising them, he may well be proved wrong. The fact that we are interfering with an industry’s right to advertise its product is dangerous to our democracy and ought not to be allowed or supported in this House, of all places.