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Health experts have welcomed proposals to tighten rules on smoking outdoors, but hospitality leaders fear the restrictions will hurt some businesses, particularly pubs.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said on Thursday the government was considering tougher restrictions on smoking outdoors to reduce preventable smoking-related deaths and the strain on the National Health Service (NHS).
Details are still unclear, but if the bill passes, smoking could be banned in pub gardens, outdoor restaurants, hospitals and sports grounds.
In addition to hospitality industry leaders criticising the plans, opposition politicians have also said the proposals amount to over-regulation.
The new ban only applies to England – it is not yet clear whether it will apply to the rest of the UK, although local governments could introduce similar rules.
Dr Leila McKay, from the NHS Confederation, speaking on behalf of NHS organisations, said the move would reduce the “huge problems” caused by smoking for both individuals and society.
She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease in the UK.
“We're pleased to see progress being made,” Dr. MacKay added.
Deborah Arnott, chief executive of the charity Action on Smoking and Health, said people expected “places like children's play areas and outside seating areas of pubs, restaurants and cafes to be smoke-free”.
But Mr Arnott said it was important that smokers had access to some outdoor areas so they could “smoke outside and not inside the home”.
Hospitality workers fear the ban will deal a further blow to their business.
The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), which represents the UK's 20,000 pubs, said factors including the coronavirus pandemic and the energy crisis had led to a significant fall in the number of pubs.
“This needs to be considered very carefully before it causes damage to businesses, economic growth and jobs,” Kate Nicholls, chief executive of trade body UKHospitality, told the Today programme.
Revolution Bars chief executive Rob Pitchers said he did not believe smoking in beer gardens was “prevalent enough to pose any strain on the NHS”.
But JD Wetherspoon founder Tim Martin said: “In any event, we don't expect this to have a significant impact on our business.”
Smaller pub owners tell a different story.
Lisa Burlage, 55, a pub landlady from Newlands, Gloucestershire, said pubs should be able to choose whether to ban smoking and “that decision is not up to the government”.
“This is just another hurdle the hospitality industry has to face – and one that they could do without,” Mr Barragge told the BBC.
Tony Harding, 57, a pub owner from Salisbury, said people living close to his pub would probably not be happy if customers started smoking and “blocking the street access instead of using my pleasant garden”.
These concerns are also being expressed by opposition politicians.
Conservative leadership candidate Priti Patel said the proposals amounted to “overprotective state regulation” that would “damage the economy”.
Robert Jenrick, another Conservative leadership candidate, said: “The last thing this country needs is thousands of more pubs closing.”
Meanwhile, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage described the proposals as an “absolutely absurd expansion of government powers”.
“Frankly, if they do this it will be the death knell for pubs,” Mr Farage added.
Starmer confirms smoking ban extension under consideration
But the prime minister, speaking to reporters on Thursday, stressed the health implications.
Asked about the proposals, Sir Keir said the Government “intends to take decisions in this area” and further details would be revealed.
Richard Lawrence, 31, supports the plan and says he doesn't understand why it is being perceived negatively.
“If there was a ban, people would be much more likely to go to the pub, experience a nice beer garden and enjoy food and drink without having to worry about the nasty smell and smoke from smokers spraying themselves,” Mr Lawrence said.
Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the UK, with two thirds of deaths among long-term users attributable to tobacco use and 80,000 deaths each year.
According to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics, around 12.9% of people aged 18 and over in the UK in 2022, or around 6.4 million people, smoked tobacco.
This is the lowest percentage of smokers since records began in 2011.
Selva Venugopalan, 45, has a three-and-a-half-year-old son and his wife, Geraldine, is pregnant with their second child.
He told the BBC that the proposal was a “no brainer”.
“I don't want to be exposed to second-hand smoke. I don't want my young children to be exposed to second-hand smoke.”
In its guidelines on passive or secondhand smoke, Cancer Research UK says all forms of exposure to smoke are “dangerous”, while the NHS says secondhand smoke is a “deadly cocktail of more than 4,000 irritants, toxins and carcinogens”.
