A ban on smoking in beer gardens and other outdoor areas is being considered, Sir Keir Starmer has confirmed, because smoking places a “huge burden” on the NHS and taxpayers.
The Prime Minister said ministers were also considering banning smoking in other places such as outdoor restaurants, outdoor sports venues, hospitals, nightclubs and some smaller parks.
Sir Keir confirmed the proposal on Thursday, following a leaked report obtained by The Sun.
He said: “My starting point here is to remind everyone that more than 80,000 people die from smoking every year – these are avoidable deaths and they are a huge cost to the NHS and of course to taxpayers.
So yes, we will be making decisions in this area. Details will be announced in due course, but this is a preventable cause of death and steps must be taken to reduce the burden on the NHS and the taxpayer.” Protecting people from the dangers of second-hand smoke
But the proposals have been heavily criticised by others as undermining people’s freedoms and being the “final nail in the coffin” for the hotel industry. , CEO of the Night-Time Industry Association, said: “This raises a crucial question: are we on the verge of becoming a nanny state?” What’s next?
“While these measures may rightly be driven by public health considerations, they risk dividing opinion and imposing further regulatory burdens on businesses who are already facing significant challenges.
“The last thing we need at a time when our industry desperately needs freedom to trade is further barriers.”
Mr Kill said many British smokers “enjoy smoking in environments such as beer gardens.”
“We must ask ourselves whether such an approach is truly in the public interest or whether there is a risk of over-regulation at the expense of individual liberty and economic efficiency,” he added.
Kate Nicholls, chief executive of British Hospitality, said a ban could cause “severe economic damage to the hospitality sector”, citing the “significant” number of pubs that closed in the wake of indoor smoking in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2007. It was banned in Scotland in 2006.
She said this would also affect hotels, cafes and restaurants and called for the Government to consult with the hospitality industry before passing the law.
“It also needs to be assessed whether such a ban would achieve its objective of significantly reducing smoking or whether it would simply shift smoking elsewhere, such as at home,” she added.
Some Conservative MPs have also voiced their opposition to the plan, although they themselves have plans to limit young people’s smoking. Shadow Health Secretary Victoria Atkins wrote about X: “Our laws on Generation Smoke Free were designed for this purpose.
“But banning adults from smoking outdoors was not part of our plans – it’s putting our hospitality industry at risk because workers are leaving.”
Reform leader Nigel Farage also told the newspaper: “I will never go to the pub again if smoking is banned outdoors.”
But Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking Health (ASH), said: “There is a real concern among young people.
“ASH would support including powers to extend the outdoor smoking ban subject to consultation.”
“However, it is also important that there continue to be outdoor areas where smokers can smoke outside, rather than in their own homes.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “We do not comment on leaks.”
“Smoking claims 80,000 lives a year, puts enormous pressure on the NHS and costs the taxpayer billions.
“We are committed to protecting children and non-smokers from the dangers of second-hand smoke.
“We are considering a range of measures to ultimately make the UK smoke-free.”
The ban on smoking in pubs and other enclosed public places and workplaces was introduced by Labour in 2007.
According to ASH, in the year after the new laws were passed, hospital admissions for heart attacks fell by 2.4% and admissions for childhood asthma fell by 12.3%.
This Labour government had previously said it would reinstate key anti-smoking policies from Rishi Sunak that had been shelved before the election.
In his July opening address to the Legislature, King promised to reintroduce legislation to gradually raise the minimum age for purchasing tobacco.
Under the proposed smoking ban, 14-year-olds would currently not be able to legally purchase cigarettes.
In its speech, Labour also set out plans to restrict the sale and marketing of e-cigarettes.