U.K. official slams lack of smoke ban

LONDON, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Britain's leading medical adviser considered resigning over the government decision to back away from a total ban on smoking in pubs and bars in England.

Liam Donaldson, the chief medical officer, told the House of Commons health committee that the compromise proposal to allow smoking in pubs where no food was served was "unworkable" and that the partial ban approved last month caused a major battle in the Cabinet, the Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

"It is rare for the government to ignore the advice of its chief medical officer or fail to act on it -- in the seven years I have been in post, this is the first situation I have encountered in which it has happened," Donaldson told the committee Thursday. "It put me in a difficult position and I have had to think hard about what I want to do about that position."

Donaldson said he stayed so he could continue to promote a blanket ban.

The partial smoking ban, scheduled to be implemented in 2007, exempts private clubs and pubs that don't serve food.