LONDON, June 9 (UPI) -- Britain's health secretary is being criticized for suggesting smoking is one of the few pleasures left to the poor, The Times of London reported.
Speaking at a Labor party Big Conversation Event in London Tuesday, Dr. John Reid said the middle classes were "obsessed" with giving instructions to working class people about how to live their lives and insisted that smoking was not one of the worst problems faced by the poor.
His remarks immediately drew the wrath of anti-smoking groups. Deborah Arnott, director of Action on Smoking and Health lashed out, saying smoking is the single greatest cause of the difference in life expectancy between the rich and the poor.
"Any government that cares about improving public health must act to protect workers from second-hand smoke," she said. "Second-hand smoke kills more poor people than any other group in society."
Reid, who himself gave up a 60-cigarette-a-day habit 18 months ago, said he fears advocates of a smoking ban are behaving as if members of the public are incapable of making their own informed decisions, The Guardian reported.
