I too, am an occasional smoker who goes outside to indulge (except for Saturday night when I was very drunk and had one in the pub for the first time in ages - hypocrite!) and I think a total ban is the only workable solution.

It should be interesting to see how these poltroons define food. Of course, we all know crisps, pork scratchings and nuts are actually food (especially scratchings), but will these be exempt? What about pickled eggs? Pork pies? Barm cakes? Are these food?

One of my favourite pubs sells food only at lunchtimes and not in the evenings. Does that mean people can smoke in the evenings or not at all?

Interesting the resistance to the total ban was by John Reid, a Scottish MP representing a Scottish constituency and whose constituents will benefit from a total ban in 2006, and this ban relates to England and Wales.