Putney MP praised by ASH

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Tony Colman MP wins praise from anti-smoking groups

Campaigning local MP Tony Colman has won praise this week from the country's top anti-smoking pressure group. Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) has congratulated Mr Colman over his call for urgent new laws to end smoking in workplaces and public places.

Mr Colman is one of more than a hundred MPs to sign Early Day Motion no 359, which calls for "the Government to introduce legislation on passive smoking as a matter of urgency".The British Medical Association estimates that more than one thousand people die prematurely in the UK every year from the effects of passive smoking - that's at least three people every day.

An estimated 3 million people became passive smokers at work, with those working in bars and restaurants particularly at risk. Unions such as the GMB have begun to win big payouts to workers made ill by second hand smoking, and many more legal cases are believed to be in the pipeline.

In July, the Government's Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson placed action on second hand smoking as his top priority for improving public health. He said that "major action to clear the air of cigarette smoke in workplaces and public places would be the final brick in the wall". Smoke-free laws have already been successfully introduced in New York and California.

Mr Tony Colman MP commented:"I'm backing the call for action on smoking in the workplace. On average, at least three people die in the UK every day from the effects of passive smoking. Employees need to be protected from this major public health threat. Action on passive smoking will also help cut the number of active smokers in the country, and hence cut the tragic toll of death and disease that smoking brings in its wake."

25th September 2003

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