Member

There has been quite a bit of discussion in Committee today—particularly from the noble Lords, Lord Murray, Lord Strathcarron and Lord Scriven—about prohibition not working. There was a suggestion that it would lead to an increase in black-market tobacco. I go back to the point that I made earlier to the noble Lord, Lord Scriven: a smoke-free generation prevents people ever becoming addicted to smoking in the first place. Therefore, in my view, as the total market for cigarettes shrinks, the demand for illicit-market cigarettes and tobacco will, by definition, also shrink.