Cancer affects almost every family in Scotland and smoking is the number one cause of cancer

Lorraine Alstead, Macmillan Cancer Relief

Health professionals from the Royal College of Nursing and Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh met for over an hour on Monday at the British Medical Association's headquarters in Edinburgh.

They were joined by representatives from the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, Macmillan Cancer Relief, Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation and anti-smoking group ASH.

Dr Bill O'Neill, Scottish secretary of the BMA, said: "The determined actions of the tobacco industry brought about the failure of the European directive on tobacco advertising.

"Sadly, the commitment given by the Westminster parliament to introduce a ban also appears to have faltered. Politicians of all parties must now unite to bring forward effective legislation through the Scottish Parliament.

Scottish legislation

Lorraine Alstead of Macmillan Cancer Relief added: "Cancer affects almost every family in Scotland and smoking is the number one cause of cancer. The longer the delay in introducing measures to reduce tobacco uptake, the more lives we put at risk.

"We hope that the Scottish Parliament will take the initiative and treat this not as a party-political issue but as a key measure in improving Scotland's health."

The seeds of the current debate were sown when Labour promised to ban tobacco advertising when it swept to power in 1997.

Tobacco firms spend �100m each year on UK advertising

Despite restating its commitment in principle, the government became the target for anti-tobacco groups when the ban failed to materialise.

Although laws regulating tobacco advertising are devolved to the Scottish Parliament, MSPs agreed in January to accept a Westminster bill on the subject.

But there was widespread disappointment among opposition parties and health professionals when there was no mention of a ban in the Queen's Speech, which set out the legislative agenda for the Labour government in the wake of its second election landslide.

Last month, SNP health spokeswoman Nicola Sturgeon initiated a member's bill in the Scottish Parliament, which could pave the way for a ban north of the border.

Nicola Sturgeon has launched a member's bill

The move was followed last week when Lord Clement-Jones, Liberal Democrat health spokesman in the House of Lords, introduced a Private Members' Bill with the same purpose.

Nicola Sturgeon said on Monday that she was prepared to continue with her Member's Bill despite growing pressure for her to leave any legislative change to the Westminster parliament.

"Obviously a ban would be better across the UK, but moving forward in Scotland is better than doing nothing," she said.

"A ban has unanimous support in the Scottish Parliament, as we saw in the vote in January, so now I'm aiming to get as many of them to back the bill I hope to bring forward now."

The tobacco industry spends �100m every year marketing its products throughout Britain and the BMA says this has a diverse affect on public health.