British government plans for a ban on smoking in restaurants and bars in England remain uncertain today after reports that cabinet ministers could not agree as to how far the ban should go.
The British Department of Health said proposals to outlaw smoking would not be published on Wednesday, as widely expected by the media and hinted at by Prime Minister Tony Blair's office.
"Decisions haven't been taken and discussions are ongoing," said a department spokeswoman, adding the department had never given Wednesday as the publication date.
The spokeswoman could not say when details of the smoking ban - promised by Blair in the run-up to the May election - would be published.
Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has suggested a ban on smoking in virtually all enclosed public places, mirroring laws introduced in Ireland last year.
But she also wants to give bars and restaurants the right to have a sectioned-off smoking room where bar staff would not be present.
Other ministers have argued for a complete ban on smoking in public places while Hewitt's predecessor John Reid, who Blair moved from health to the defence portfolio after May's election, has fought for his own, less stringent, proposals to be retained.