David Nuttall's attempt to relax the smoking ban falls at the first hurdle - but 77 Tory MPs vote for his Bill (with 38 opposing it)

By Jonathan Isaby

On Tuesday we carried this video of Bury North MP David Nuttall explaining why he wants to relax the smoking ban.

His chance to make his case with a ten minute rule bill in the Commons came yesterday afternoon. Here are key extracts from the speech of Mr Nuttall - a "devout non-smoker":

"Although there are arguments for it to be completely repealed, this Bill aims to deal with what has perhaps been the most contentious aspect of the ban-namely, its application to public houses and private members' clubs. This Bill would exempt such premises from part 1 of the Health Act 2006 and allow them to reintroduce a smoking room if those in charge chose to do so. Smoking would be permitted in a separate room, provided that appropriate and effective air extraction equipment was fitted. Smoking would continue to be prohibited where food was being served."

"There are two main reasons why the blanket ban should be relaxed and smoking should once again be permitted in public houses and private members' clubs. First, there is the economic case; and, secondly, there is what I believe to be an even more important reason-namely, freedom of choice and the desirability of devolving decisions to the lowest appropriate level."

"Since the ban was introduced, thousands of public houses have closed down. As ever with statistics, it is possible to choose the ones that best suit the desired argument. Few could argue against the fact, however, that since the introduction of the smoking ban, thousands of public houses have closed down. I do not claim that the smoking ban was the only cause of all those closures, as other factors such as the availability of lower-price drinks from supermarkets, the cost of satellite television and the general economic climate no doubt all played a part. For many, however, the smoking ban was the final straw."

"Let me turn to deal with the second reason-freedom of choice and localism. I believe that in the case of a private members' club, the decision should be taken by the members of that club. I believe that the decision on whether smoking takes place in a public house should be taken by the pub landlord. I believe in trusting the people. This means giving individuals the power and the responsibility to take decisions for themselves.

"Pub landlords are the right people to decide whether allowing a smoking room is the best thing to do for their establishments. Some would no doubt choose to take advantage of the freedom that the Bill would give them, but I know from my own constituency that many would not. As smoking would continue to be prohibited where food was being served, many public houses would remain just as they are today. Customers would have a choice whether to use a completely non-smoking pub or to use one with a smoking room. The establishment of separate smoking rooms in some pubs would also reduce the incidence of smokers' being forced to gather on the pavements outside pubs.

"The Bill puts into practice the principle of localism that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister set out with such clarity in his speech to the Conservative party conference last week. It transfers power from the state to the citizen, from politicians to people. It puts the "local" back into localism."

Mr Nuttall's attempt to introduce the Bill was defeated by 141 votes to 86.

The official Conservative line was to abstain, but a total of 77 backbench Tory MPs supported this attempt to relax the smoking ban:

1. Richard Bacon
2. Steve Baker
3. Guto Bebb
4. Andrew Bingham
5. Brian Binley
6. Peter Bone
7. Graham Brady
8. Andrew Bridgen
9. Aidan Burley
10. Douglas Carswell
11. Rehman Chishti
12. Chris Chope
13. Thérèse Coffey
14. Oliver Colvile
15. David Davies
16. Philip Davies
17. David Davis
18. Caroline Dinenage
19. Jackie Doyle-Price
20. Charlie Elphicke
21. Jonathan Evans
22. Zac Goldsmith
23. Ben Gummer
24. Robert Halfon
25. Gordon Henderson
26. Damian Hinds
27. Philip Hollobone
28. Sajid Javid
29. Gareth Johnson
30. Jo Johnson
31. Simon Kirby
32. Greg Knight
33. Kwasi Kwarteng
34. Pauline Latham
35. Edward Leigh
36. Ian Liddell-Grainger
37. Peter Lilley
38. Jack Lopresti
39. Paul Maynard
40. Karl McCartney
41. Anne McIntosh
42. Mark Menzies
43. Patrick Mercer
44. Stephen Metcalfe
45. Penny Mordaunt
46. Anne Marie Morris
47. David Morris
48. Stephen Mosley
49. David Mowat
50. David Nuttall
51. Eric Ollerenshaw
52. Richard Ottaway
53. Priti Patel
54. Christopher Pincher
55. Jacob Rees-Mogg
56. Laurence Robertson
57. Amber Rudd
58. Alec Shelbrooke
59. Chris Skidmore
60. Henry Smith
61. Andrew Stephenson
62. Bob Stewart
63. Iain Stewart
64. Rory Stewart
65. Sir Peter Tapsell
66. Elizabeth Truss
67. Andrew Turner
68. Andrew Tyrie
69. Paul Uppal
70. Charles Walker
71. Robin Walker
72. Robert  Walter
73. Mike Weatherley
74. James Wharton
75. Craig Whittaker
76. John Whittingdale
77. Gavin Williamson

Meanwhile, the following 38 Conservatives actively voted against allowing the Bill to proceed any further:

1. Stuart Andrew
2. Steve Barclay
3. Sir Paul Beresford
4. Nick Boles
5. Peter Bottomley
6. Steve Brine
7. Fiona Bruce
8. Damian Collins
9. Jane Ellison
10. Graham Evans
11. Mike Freer
12. Richard Fuller
13. Sam Gyimah
14. Matthew Hancock
15. Rebecca Harris
16. George Hollingbery
17. Margot James
18. Chris Kelly
19. Eleanor Laing
20. Andrea Leadsom
21. Phillip Lee
22. Jeremy Lefroy
23. Karen Lumley
24. Nigel Mills
25. James Morris
26. Sheryll Murray
27. Caroline Nokes
28. Matthew Offord
29. Andrew Percy
30. Stephen Phillips
31. Daniel Poulter
32. Andrew Rosindell
33. Julian Smith
34. John Stevenson
35. Mel Stride
36. Justin Tomlinson
37. Chris White
38. Sarah Wollaston