You heard it here first! I'm not going to say I told you so, but in one of our English conversation groups last year I said that the UK would soon ban smoking in public places.
However it's not all good news:-
Ministers have unveiled details of plans to ban smoking in pubs serving food, restaurants and other enclosed public places, including bus stops.
But Health Minister Caroline Flint denied an outright ban in all public places in England was planned.
She said she wanted smoking banned in workplaces by the end of 2007 and in pubs where food was served by 2008.
Critics said the plans did not go far enough, while smokers' lobby group Forest said they were "unnecessary".