Too many children in the UK are still being regularly exposed to high concentrations of second-hand smoke in cars. This exposure can have detrimental effects on children’s health due to their smaller lungs and less developed immune systems. The Royal College of Physicians published a report collating all available evidence on second-hand smoke to show how it affects children’s health. They found that there were 300,000 GP visits by children every year, there were 165,000 new episodes of disease and 9,500 admissions to hospital every year in the UK because of passive smoke.

In 2007, legislation to ban smoking in public places and work vehicles was introduced in England and Wales to protect the public from the harmful effects of smoking. This means that non-smokers are now protected from passive smoke in places such as work vehicles. However, six years later we are still not protecting the most vulnerable in society, children, from being exposed to passive smoke in the small, enclosed confines of private vehicles. Despite the overwhelming public support, nearly 80 per cent of adults and 65 per cent of smokers, opponents of a ban have argued that a ban would be an infringement on civil liberties with some people believing that you can just wind the window down or put the air-conditioning on.

However, research by the University of Aberdeen shows this does not stop the high toxic levels of cigarette smoke that exceed the levels of pollution that the World Health Organization recommends as safe, from entering the car and ultimately a child’s smaller and less developed lungs. We are liberal by name and by nature, so we rightly think long and hard before banning anything. But protecting a child’s right to health and wellbeing is a matter of positive liberty.

Adults understand the dangers of smoking and can choose not to smoke in a car. Children on the other hand don’t always grasp to the extent to which second-hand smoke can be harmful and can lack the ability and confidence to ask adults not to smoke in their cars. A British Lung Foundation survey of 8 to 15 year olds showed that only 31 per cent of them felt confident enough to ask an adult to stop smoking in a car and that 34 per cent were too frightened or embarrassed to ask the adults to stop. Protecting society’s most vulnerable is at the core of our party. It is in this spirit that we should support a ban on smoking in cars carrying children and protect the one in five children who are regularly exposed to second-hand smoke.

The different governments in the UK have been trying to tackle this problem through different awareness campaigns. Here in Wales the government has announced that it will consider introducing a law to ban smoking in cars carrying children if the two-year Fresh Start Wales campaign does not lead to a drop in children’s exposure to second-hand smoke. The UK government has invested over £3.5million in awareness-raising campaigns over the past 2 years. But, awareness campaigns alone will not be sufficient to protecting children; it is together with legislation that awareness-raising will be the most effective in protecting the health of our nation’s children. We only need to look at the increase of seatbelt wearing from 25 per cent to 91 per cent when legislation was introduced alongside awareness-raising to see the difference we could make.

We can be proud of our past achievements in speaking out in order to protect the vulnerable. The welfare state – one of the UKs greatest triumphs of the last century – exists because of our political endeavours. We must also remember that as a political party we spoke up on a ban on smoking in public places and urged Labour to stop dithering about and legislate, whilst the Conservatives opposed the law. Yet few could now imagine going back to how things were before. Research has also shown that the smoking ban has had considerable health benefits, for example, a study this year by Imperial College London showed that hospital admissions in children with asthma symptoms went down by 12.3 per cent in the first year after smoke-free legislation was introduced in England and that it has been gradually decreasing since. Isn’t it time we speak up again and ensure we protect some of this country’s most vulnerable?

The chance has come for us to do so. A ban is due to be debated in mid-November as an amendment to the Children and Families Bill in the House of Lords. Stand up and make yourself heard on this issue. We must take this opportunity to protect young people. You can watch a powerful British Lung Foundation video to find out more.