The government is “not attacking the hospitality industry” with proposed plans to ban smoking in pub gardens, a cabinet minister has insisted.
Lucy Powell told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips that Labour wants to create a “smoke-free country” and measures to achieve this will be done “in consultation” with businesses that could be affected.
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The new government had already pledged to resurrect Rishi Sunak’s flagship smoking bill, which intended to ban anyone aged 14 and under from ever buying cigarettes, but this was shelved before the election.
However, this week Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he could go further and also ban smoking in outdoor venues to reduce the number of preventable deaths linked to tobacco use.
Asked about criticism this move could “kill business”, Ms Powell said: “We’re certainly not attacking the hospitality industry. We support the hospitality industry. It’s vital to our communities, our high street, our economy.
“I’m not going to pre-empt what is or isn’t going to be in a future piece of legislation, but what I would say is that any such measures to extend some of these issues around smoking will be done in full consultation with hospitality business.”
She added there has been “a consensus for a long time now that we want to see a smoke-free country” and the health and economic benefits “would be huge”.
Smoking claims around 80,000 lives a year and estimates suggest it costs the NHS in England about £2.6bn a year.
While health campaigners have welcomed the latest plans, industry leaders in the hospitality sector have warned it could be a final nail in the coffin following the difficulties of the pandemic and cost of living crisis.
Sir Keir said the ban could include pub gardens, outdoor restaurants and outside sports venues, hospitals, nightclubs and some small parks.
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Kate Nicholls, chief executive of trade body UKHospitality, said this “comes with the prospect of serious economic harm to hospitality venues” that have “all invested significantly in good faith in outdoor spaces and continue to face financial challenges”.
Michael Kill, CEO of the Night Time Industries Association, said: “This raises the critical question: Are we on the brink of becoming a nanny state? What is next?
“While these measures may rightly be driven by public health considerations, they risk dividing opinion and imposing yet another regulatory burden on businesses already facing considerable challenges.”
A number of Conservative MPs also spoke out against the plan, despite their own proposals to curb smoking for younger people, with shadow health secretary Victoria Atkins posting on X: “We want to protect our children from taking up smoking and vaping. Our smoke-free generation legislation was designed to do that.
“Stopping adults from smoking in the open air, however, was not part of our plans. Labour is putting our hospitality sector at risk in the process.”
Reform leader Nigel Farage told one newspaper he would “never go to the pub again if outdoor smoking was banned”.
Nigel Farage made his views known outside a pub in Westminster on Thursday. Pic: PA
A smoking ban inside of pubs and other enclosed public spaces was brought in by the last Labour government in 2007.
It led to a 2.4% reduction in hospital admissions for heart attacks and a 12.3% reduction in hospital admissions for childhood asthma within a year, according to Action on Smoking Health (ASH).
ASH said they support the government’s proposals, but it is important for people who smoke to have somewhere outside to do so to prevent them from smoking indoors.