Pubs hit out at UK plans to ban smoking in outdoor areas

UK ministers are considering extending smoking restrictions to outdoor areas including pub gardens, restaurant terraces and children’s playgrounds.

The proposals have been drawn up for consideration as part of a tobacco and vapes bill that the new Labour government promised to bring forward in the King’s Speech last month.

The legislation will take forward former prime minister Rishi Sunak’s flagship policy to outlaw the sale of cigarettes for all children born on or after January 1 2009, and will impose restrictions on the sale and marketing of vapes.

While public health experts have long called for tougher laws on cigarettes, industry groups and Conservative politicians warned on Thursday that any moves to ban smoking in outdoor hospitality settings would harm businesses and cause job losses.

The current indoor smoking ban could be extended to areas outdoor sports stadiums, smaller parks, pavements outside hospitals and universities, and open-air spaces at nightclubs, according to documents seen by The Sun newspaper.

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, said a ban on smoking in outdoor spaces would cause “serious economic harm to hospitality venues”, She referred to “significant pub closures” seen after the indoor smoking ban was introduced “to see the potential impact it could have”.

Nicholls added that many venues had invested in outdoor spaces “in good faith” in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and “continue to face financial challenges”.

The last Labour government outlawed smoking in enclosed public places and workplaces across the UK in 2007.

However, James Baer, chief executive of Amber Taverns, said he did not expect Labour’s plans to have the same impact on pubs as the 2007 ban, as smoking rates have fallen in the years since and would continue to decline.

Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, said reports of the plans had “caused concern across the sector”, adding: “Are we on the brink of becoming a nanny state?”.

A government spokesperson declined to comment on the proposals but confirmed that ministers were “considering a range of measures to finally make Britain smoke-free”.

The spokesperson said: “Smoking claims 80,000 lives a year, puts huge pressure on our NHS and costs taxpayers billions. We are determined to protect children and non-smokers from the harms of secondhand smoking.”

Health campaigners welcomed the proposal. Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health (Ash), said the charity would “support the inclusion of powers to extend smoke-free laws outdoors, subject to consultation”.

She said the government appeared to be “catching up with what the public expects, and that’s not to have to breathe in tobacco smoke in places like children’s play areas and seating areas outside pubs, restaurants and cafés”.

It would be important to maintain outdoor areas where smokers could “smoke in the open air rather than inside their homes”, Arnott added.

Conservative leadership contenders Robert Jenrick and Priti Patel on Thursday hit out against the “nanny state” idea of extending the smoking ban.