HEALTH minister Peter Roffey has condemned his UK counterpart’s comments on smoking. Dr John Reid told a Labour meeting that smoking was one of the few pleasures of the poor.

‘What he said was both unfortunate and patronising, to talk about ﾓthe poorﾔ and ﾓtheir pleasureﾔ in that way,’ said Deputy Roffey.

‘And given that the audience may be young people and there is a lot of effort to say that smoking isn’t a good idea because of the health problems it causes, for the health minister to describe it in that way is appalling.

‘He didn’t engage his brain before opening his mouth. He should have been more guarded in what he said because it came across as a promotion of smoking.’

Dr Reid said that the middle class was obsessed with giving instruction to people from lower socio-economic backgrounds. He said that he was an advocate of informed choice for adults, rather than bans.

Local experts were baffled by his remarks, but some smokers thought that people should be left to make their own choice.

‘This is a very irresponsible message and contrasts directly with the kind of comments that most secretaries of state for health would make,’ said Alun Williams, chairman of the Guernsey Adolescent Smoke-free Project.

‘The previous health secretary, Alan Milburn, said that smoking was the principal cause of inequalities in death rates between the rich and poor. Put simply, smoking is a public health disaster. Yet this guy seems to be giving approval to one sector to smoke.’

He said that perhaps Dr Reid, an ex-smoker, should try explaining his view to someone who had lost a partner because of a lethal disease caused by smoking.

‘It is patronising to say people should be allowed to smoke when it obviously has a detrimental effect on health and living standards.’

He said that people who bought 20 cigarettes a day spent £1,500 a year and people in poorer social classes spent six times as much of their income on tobacco compared to wealthier households.

‘It is therefore perpetuating their poverty,’ said Mr Williams.

Public health director Dr David Jeffs added that smoking was increasingly a habit of the less well-off.

Unskilled manual workers have a one in two chance of surviving until they are 70, whereas people in social class 1 have a three in four chance. Half of this difference was because of smoking.

‘It seems a bizarre comment since the elected Labour Government has been talking about decreasing health inequalities and smoking is the biggest single contributor to this,’ he said.

‘Dr Reid is essentially endorsing health inequality and I wonder why he decided to say something like that. People are quite upset and I am sure it will see all the learned parties asking what he is about.

‘In Guernsey we will do all we can to help everyone who wishes to give up, give up, whatever social class they are in, and the surveys show that 70% of people would prefer not to smoke.’

Smoker Charlie, 44, who works in a tobacco factory, said that people should have freedom of choice.

‘I imagine 90% of smokers wished they didn’t, but it’s their choice. It is meant to be a democracy we live in,’ he said.

‘I think Dr Reid probably said that either to get a reaction about the subject, or because he didn’t think about what he was saying, but people can’t be put into classes like that, it doesn’t work.’

Simon Dean, 40, a plasterer, approved of Dr Reid’s remarks. ‘Smoking is not illegal so why should people have to stop it. I think what he said is good.’

Dave Vowles, bar manager at the Mariners’ Inn on the Bridge, said that people should have freedom of choice. The majority of people who go to the pub smoke.

‘He is a very brave man putting his head in the firing line saying what he has as health minister.

‘No matter how poor people are, they will always find money for a drink or some cigarettes. And putting prices up doesn’t deter people.’