Will smoking be banned everywhere?

In Britain, members of parliament are expected to vote shortly on whether to impose a ban on smoking in public places in England and how far that ban should go. This report from Elizabeth Blunt:

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The government wants to ban smoking in indoor public places, including restaurants and other places of entertainment. This is partly because it wants to discourage people from smoking, since smoking causes so much illness, but also to protect the health of the staff who work there, and who have no choice about breathing in second hand smoke.

But it was prepared to make an exception for private members' clubs, and bars and pubs which don't serve food. But the chairman of the parliamentary health committee Kevin Barron, says that's not good enough. He wants no exceptions, and says he has a lot of support.

The argument is that as soon as there are loopholes, people will exploit them, turning bars, for instance, into nominally private clubs. The new law in its final form is expected to come into force in the middle of next year.

Elizabeth Blunt, BBC, UK

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a big majority
most people

to pass laws
to formally agree or approve new rules (for governing a country)

to water down
to make something less strong or forceful

a proposed smoking ban
a plan to stop people using cigarettes

second hand smoke
the smoke that people breathe out when smoking a cigarette

to make an exception
here, to let certain bars and clubs ignore the smoking ban

the parliamentary health committee
a group of people elected to give advice to Government on certain subjects

nominally private clubs
pretend to be like places where only a selected few people can go

in its final form
the last version, in the version that will be used by everyone

to come into force
to become legal, to become one of the rules used to govern the country

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