New Labour prime minister Sir Keir Starmer is using his tiny mandate to push through a hugely controversial smoking ban.
Not content with a previous law—described as the “toughest” in the world—to make the sale of tobacco to those born after 2009 illegal, Labour is also moving to introduce tougher rules on smoking outdoors.
This would see smoking banned in areas outside football stadiums, outdoor restaurants and even in open-air spaces at nightclubs and pubs. All this just months after Starmer promised to “tread more lightly” on the lives of voters.
In an attempt to justify the move, the prime minister has pointed to preventable deaths caused by smoking, although commentator and smoker Calvin Robinson noted that other causes of preventable deaths, such as sugar and abortion, obviously will not receive the same treatment.
Nigel Farage, whose Reform UK party has pledged to “fight nanny state regulations and bring joy back to Britain,” said that if outdoor smoking is banned, “I’ll never go to the pub again.” Smokers’ rights campaign group Forest added that “he’s not alone.”
Conservative leadership candidates have also condemned the proposals. It should, however, be remembered that it was their party which earlier this year set about phasing out smoking in Britain with a strict ban.
The plan was only shelved because of the calling of a snap July general election. At the time, The European Conservative highlighted that this would later allow Tory MPs to “appeal to the electorate by bashing Labour for putting the restrictive scheme … into law. Indeed, voters tend to have short (political) memories, and are unlikely to remember that it was the Conservatives who actually introduced the bill in the first place.”
According to the BBC, some Labour ministers have “raised concerns” about the impact an outdoor smoking ban would have on the hospitality sector. Forest has described the 2007 ban on smoking in all enclosed public places as “devastating” for the pub industry.
Responding to Labour’s new considerations, British Beer and Pub Association CEO Emma McClarkin said:
It is deeply concerning and difficult to understand why the government would bring forward proposals that will be yet another blow to the viability of our nation’s vital community assets.
Sam Ashworth-Hayes, a leader writer at The Daily Telegraph, also described this as further proof that Britain is run by “instinctive interventionists who think the entire purpose of government is to pass ever more regulations banning things they dislike, but not to jail criminals.”
The proposals will be subject to a public consultation. Other areas of contention include the fate of Britain’s estimated 500 Middle Eastern-style shisha bars, whose business model centres on smoking, and whether any new bans will also apply to vaping and electronic cigarettes.
