Order! Smoking in Parliament is banned

THE SMOKE-FILLED rooms and corridors of the Palace of Westminster will be consigned to history within weeks when smoking is banned across Parliament.

Smoking by MPs, staff and visitors will be barred from Easter in virtually all parts of Westminster. Even the Strangers' Bar, a drinking den favoured by many MPs, and the tea room will be smoke-free under a ruling designed to drag the palace into line with other workplaces. MPs will only be allowed to smoke on the terrace overlooking the Thames, or in a "designated smoking area".

Stephen Pound, Labour MP for Ealing North and a 40-a-day smoker, said the change would be a profound culture shock. "I had to light a cigarette to steady my nerves when I heard," he said. "At least people will be able to see who is coming down the committee corridor through the fug of smoke. I suppose I am being bullied into being healthy. Within a couple of days it will be me and Charles Kennedy behind the bike sheds."

Under the rules, which come into force on 4 April, all parts of the palace serving food will be smoke free, including the Members' Dining Room, the ornate Pugin Room, the Strangers' Cafeteria, and the series of banqueting rooms, which host Westminster's dining clubs and functions. The committee corridors will also be included as will offices, meeting rooms and "lifts, lobbies, washrooms, etc". Designated areas for smoking include less popular refreshment areas such as the little-used Annie's Bar and the Churchill Room Bar.

The new limits will come into force years before a proposed ban on smoking in most public places, not expected to be introduced before 2007.

Smoking has been prohibited in the Commons chamber, public and members' lobbies and committee rooms since 1693. According to Erskine May's parliamentary history, MPs then agreed that "no member do presume to take tobacco in the gallery of the House or at a committee table". The only form of tobacco allowed on the green benches is snuff.

CAN I LIGHT UP?

No w On the London Underground and on many trains.

South West Trains introduced a ban in 2003.

Smoking is also banned on London buses.

w Smoking is to be banned in offices, workplaces and other enclosed public spaces, under plans published in December.

w In restaurants and bars serving food, from 2007 under the published proposals.

Yes w Pubs that do not serve any food will be exempt from proposed restrictions.

w Private members' clubs, such as working men's clubs, will also be given an exemption under the government plan.

w The street, the traditional haven for the office smoker, will remain a lighting-up zone.

w At home. The privacy of the family living room will be unaffected by the proposed legislation.