Health staff at an innovative smoking cessation scheme in Chester came in for praise during a visit by Luciana Berger MP, Shadow Public Health Minister and Chris Matheson, Labour’s candidate for Chester.
The ground-breaking scheme at St Martin's Clinic helps Chester smokers quit the habit.
Ms Berger, champion of recent legislation to introduce standardised packaging of cigarettes, visited the quit smoking service in Chester on Monday to meet staff and service users to discuss their work and the recently passed legislation.
Chris Matheson said: "It was great to welcome Luciana to Chester to see the wonderful work being done by the local NHS trust in dealing with smoking-related issues, and helping people give up.
"Recent legislation has been introduced to try and stop young people taking up the habit and also protect them in close confinement areas like cars."
Luciana Berger said: "Standardised packaging is a vital public health measure that experts say will make children less likely to take up smoking, and will ultimately save lives. It has the overwhelming support of the public and Parliament. Yet it has taken years of delays, prevarication and squabbling amongst Tory MPs for us to reach this point.
"One child taking up smoking is one too many. The Government must press ahead without delay to ensure that glitzy packaging for cigarettes become a thing of the past."
