SIR - I wish to reply to Peter Hatten's letter regarding the smoking ban (Letters, March 21).

Peter is correct in his assertions of the criminalising of law-abiding people by this move. This is one of the most undemocratic pieces of legislation ever heaped on the people of this nation.

It was originally proposed as a partial ban in public places to protect workers, and only workers, from secondhand smoke.

The fact that there is no proof that secondhand smoke is anything other than an irritant seems not to matter when banning smoking.

Perhaps this is why the Government didn't use existing health and safety laws to do the protecting.

The whole thing is a social engineering exercise in population control and manipulation.

There are plans to spend £2.9 million to fund smoke police, which could be better spent on causes such as home carers.

This is, of course, not taking into account the millions spent on the propaganda in our media on the so-called lethal dangers of secondhand smoke.

There is a voluntary group who are seeking permission for a judicial review of the ban and they can be found at www.free dom2choose.co.uk Ken Nason, Cradley, near Malvern.