The Prime Minister confirmed the Government is exploring plans to ban smoking in pub and restaurant gardens and terraces, outdoor sports stadiums, children’s parks and pavements near hospitals and universities.
Nigel Farage smokes a cigarette outside a pub (Image: Getty)
Sir Keir Starmer’s “nanny state” will call last orders on struggling pubs, clubs and entertainment venues, critics have warned.
The Prime Minister confirmed the Government is exploring plans to ban smoking in pub and restaurant gardens and terraces, outdoor sports stadiums, children’s parks and pavements near hospitals and universities.
Sir Keir argued the controversial move will ease the burden on the NHS.
But the hospitality sector warned the “bonkers” decision will heap even more pressure on businesses and will be another “nail in the coffin” for pubs and bars.
Nigel Farage smoking a cigarette outside a pub (Image: Getty)
And politicians warned it has revealed the Labour Government’s “instincts” towards state interference.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: “The death knell of the traditional British pub may well have been sounded.
“The Labour Party is showing its authoritarian socialist state control instincts and mentality. The rumoured ban on smoking in pub gardens or on the pavement outside pubs will kill off the traditional pub forever. For my own part, I simply would not go to the pub ever again if these restrictions are imposed.
“The Puritans are on the march. We must all be controlled for our own good. I expect the anti-alcohol debate, with corresponding levels of national propaganda, to pick up pace over the coming years.
“This all goes to prove the point that the instincts of this Labour government are to control legal activity, whereas they realise they have no chance, and perhaps not even the will, to control illegal activity.”
Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick, who is standing to be the next leader of the Conservatives, said: “The last thing this country needs is thousands more pubs closing.
“Our country faces huge challenges. Why is Starmer focusing on this nonsense?”
Smoking was banned inside in 2007 under the last Labour Government.
The number of hospital admissions for heart attacks hell by 2.4% in the following year, saving the NHS £8.4m, according to charity Action on Smoking and Health.
The first year after the introduction of the indoor smoking ban also saw a 12.3% reduction in hospital admissions for childhood asthma, equivalent to 6,803 fewer admissions over three years.
Former prime minister Rishi Sunak announced plans to crack down on smoking through his flagship Tobacco and Vapes Bill last year.
He planned to phase out smoking entirely making it illegal for anyone born after 1 January 2009 to buy cigarettes.
The Bill – dubbed the “greatest piece of public health legislation in a generation” – had earned wide cross-party support and was progressing through Parliament when the General Election was called.
Labour is expected to revive the Bill and go further – banning smoking in many outdoor spaces.
Sir Keir said: “My starting point on this is to remind everyone that over 80,000 people lose their lives every year because of smoking.
“That’s a preventable death. It’s a huge burden on the NHS, and, of course, it’s a burden on the taxpayer. So, yes, we are going to take decisions in this space.
“More details will be revealed, but this is a preventable series of deaths and we’ve got to take the action to reduce the burden on the NHS and reduce the burden on the taxpayer.
“I think it’s important to get the balance right, but everybody … who uses the NHS will know that it’s on its knees.
“We have to relieve the burden, and that’s why I spoke before the election about moving to a preventative model when it comes to health.”
But renowned cancer doctor Professor Karol Sikora cast doubt on claims it would have a major impact on health as people sitting in pub gardens are “not in any danger”.
He said: “I detest smoking. It’s an awful habit, terrible for your health and I urge anyone to quit.
“But. At some stage, we have to trust people to make their own decisions.
“If we banned any harmful habit, we’d be living very boring lives.
“Where do we draw the line? Alcohol? Unhealthy food? Driving? Contact sport? Why even bother leaving the house at all?
“The line of ‘protecting’ the NHS just doesn’t wash. You’re in a pub garden. If someone is having a cigarette a few tables away, you are not in any danger. At all.
“‘Protect’ the NHS is the most dangerous slogan in my lifetime. I certainly don’t want to see that toxic principle applied to all other areas of society.
Nigel Farage has condemned the ban on smoking outside pubs (Image: Getty)
Nigel Farage smoking (Image: Getty)
“Educate people, tell them the facts, and let them make their own decisions. We’re all big enough and ugly enough to do that.
“Outsourcing responsibility to Government has to stop.”
Hospitality sector bosses warned it could have a devastating impact on their businesses.
Tim Martin, founder of JD Wetherspoon, said the proposed smoking ban raises a “libertarian issue”.
He said: “The question is whether the Government should interfere in individual liberties where danger is involved.
“Mountaineering is dangerous, for example. Horse riding, statistically, causes many serious injuries. I don’t think it will have a big effect on our business, one way or the other, and is really a libertarian issue.”
Chris Jowsey, chief executive of Admiral Taverns, said: “I’m no fan of smoking, but I just can’t see how this will improve health outcomes if you move people from smoking in a pub garden to smoking at home.
“It doesn’t really make any sense to me. It feels really ill-thought through.”
Mr Jowsey, whose company runs more than 1,600 pubs across the UK, added: “It would also reduce footfall and revenue into pubs.
“A pub is the last community asset left standing in many communities. Anything that undermines their ability to survive and grow their business is a bad thing, not just for the pub, but for the community.
“What are we going to do? Will we have to employ people now to just patrol the gardens to make sure nobody’s smoking? It seems a bit nuts.”
Clive Watson, chairman of Inda pub group, who also founded City Pub Group, called the policy “a bonkers idea”.
He added: “Surely, after all the pub industry has been through, we should be allowed a period of stability.”
Pubs and restaurants were at the sharp end of the Covid-19 pandemic, closing for months at a time during lockdowns.
Then, through 2022 and 2023, skyrocketing inflation caused their operating costs to rise, while the cost-of-living crisis also depressed sales.
The number of pub closures increased to 80 per month over the first three months of 2024, up by 51% compared with the same period last year, according to official Government data for England and Wales.
Rob Pitcher, chief executive of Revolution Bars, added: “As a non-smoker who spends a reasonable amount of my time in pub beer gardens, secondary smoke can occasionally be annoying, but I’m not convinced it’s prevalent enough to be putting any strain at all on the NHS.
“The potential ban on those grounds feels like an overreach by the state.”
Reem Ibrahim, Acting Director of Communications at the free market think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs, said: “Banning outdoor smoking would be another nail in the coffin for the pub industry.
“The Government’s own impact assessment concluded that banning smoking outdoors will lead to pub closures and job losses.
“Pubs and other private venues should be able to determine their own outdoor smoking rules – just as they should be allowed to decide whether to play music, serve food, or show football on TV.
“Smoking rates are already declining in the UK, in large part due to smokers switching to safer alternatives to combustible cigarettes.
“The Government should look to countries like Sweden, which has attained the lowest prevalence of smoking in the world not by implementing nanny state measures like this proposal, but by allowing adults to choose safer and healthier products.”
