ARCHIVES: JULY 4, 2004

Smoking is to be banned in all of Scotland's 7,500 pubs and bars under government plans to follow the highly successful tobacco-free zones in Ireland and New York.

Ministers had previously restricted any plans for a smoking ban to restaurants because they feared a massive backlash from drinkers and the tobacco lobby. But after similar moves in New York and Ireland were met with less resistance than expected and produced evidence some smokers were quitting, Scottish ministers now want a more far-reaching crackdown.

Scotland on Sunday can reveal that deputy health minister Tom McCabe wants to introduce a draft bill by the end of the year that will include the country's 5,100 pubs and 2,400 hotel bars in a smoking ban. First Minister Jack McConnell, who has been sceptical about a ban, has now made it known he is "open to persuasion".

• Front page revelation on the coming smoking ban, which began in March 2006.