Smoking is the now the principal avoidable cause of premature death in Britain. It hits the worst off people hardest of all. Smoking is one of the principal causes of the health gap which leads to poorer people being ill more often and dying sooner.

A person seldom falls sick, but the bystanders are animated with a faint hope that he will die.

I saw few die of hunger; of eating, a hundred thousand.

It is very much premature to say it is any particular cause.

Smoking affects all aspects of health, really, ... People know it harms them, but the harm is not immediate. The nicotine is addictive, but it is all the other chemicals - the umpteen carcinogens which can affect your heart and which can cause cancer, and which can affect pregnancy and your potency and libido - which come into play later on, with prolonged use.

I may be dying, but I am surrounded by loving, caring souls. How many people can say that?