Could this really happen? There is a move to introduce a law - or at least Whitehall has refused to rule one out, according the Daily Telegraph - to ban parents from smoking in front of their children.
Such a ban is already in force in some parts of the US and, even in the UK, fostering and adoption agencies prefer non-smokers.
The president of the Royal College of Paediatric Health, Prof Terence Stephenson, was an early advocate and has been leading calls to ban parents smoking in cars.
"You can't
inflict this on your colleagues at work any more," he said. "Why should we
treat our children's health as a lower priority than our employees?"
Certainly, it
does seem incongruous that we have laws in place to protect adults but not
children. It could also be argued that allowing children to breathe in noxious
fumes is tantamount to abuse. After all, you wouldn't sit a child next to a car
exhaust.
Whether it is abusive to permit a child to inhale cigarette smoke is
something that must be considered if a parliamentary bill is to be successful.
Mind you, a pledge to ban lighting up in front of the children would be a huge electoral risk for any political party wishing for power. Which is why it probably will never happen, despite the calls having the ear of health secretary Andy Burnham.
I think it should be based around child abuse. Being around smoke myself i have always got a headache and a bad cough