Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has not ruled out a smoking ban in outdoor spaces like pub gardens, hospital and university campuses, children’s play areas and sports grounds.
– What is the Government’s policy on smoking and vaping?
Asked about smoking on Thursday, Sir Keir told reporters he would “take decisions in this space”, and warned that smoking kills more than 80,000 each year.
“That’s a preventable death,” the Prime Minister said. “It’s a huge burden on the NHS and, of course, it’s a burden on the taxpayer.” He added: “More details will be revealed.”
Labour’s election-winning 2024 manifesto pledged preventative public health measures, and policy makers said their quest for “longer, healthier lives… starts with smoking”.
The manifesto read: “Labour will ensure the next generation can never legally buy cigarettes and ensure all hospitals integrate ‘opt-out’ smoking cessation interventions into routine care. Labour will ban vapes from being branded and advertised to appeal to children to stop the next generation from becoming hooked on nicotine.”
Setting out their legislative agenda in the King’s Speech in July, ministers promised to table a Tobacco and Vapes Bill to progressively increase the age at which people can buy cigarettes, similar to a Bill of the same name tabled by the previous Conservative administration earlier this year – to ban shopkeepers from selling cigarettes to anybody born in 2009 or later.
– What about plans for a ban on cigarettes in pub gardens?
The Government has not announced an extension of the indoor smoking ban into outdoor spaces but The Sun reported leaked “secret Whitehall papers” featured this plan.
Smokers face a ban on using cigarettes in pub gardens, restaurant terraces, near sports stadiums, pavements near universities and hospitals, and shisha bars, according to the newspaper.
Broadcasters had the opportunity to quiz the Prime Minister about the claims in Paris, the French capital hosting the Paralympics, and he did not rule them out.
– Where is smoking already banned?
Authorities in England, Northern Ireland and Wales banned indoor smoking in 2007, with Scottish authorities bringing in a ban the previous year.
The laws apply to enclosed workplaces, public buildings and public transport, which includes pubs. Ministers gained powers to ban smoking in private cars in 2014, particularly where a person under the age of 18 is in the vehicle.
Drivers or passengers who smoke in cars with anyone under 18 inside could be fined £50 in England and Wales, with similar laws in Northern Ireland and Scotland.
New Zealand’s government tried to ban the sale of tobacco products to anyone born after January 1 2009, and passed the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act 2022.
But the change was repealed by a new government before it could come into effect from January 2027.
The City of Carlsbad, 32 miles north of San Diego in California, plans to ban smoking and vaping in and around apartments, condos, care facilities and other multiunit homes, except for certain designated outdoor spaces, from January next year.
– What is the link between smoking and hospital admissions?
According to the charity Action on Smoking and Health (Ash), smokefree legislation in England resulted in 1,200 fewer emergency admissions to hospital for heart attacks – a reduction of 2.4% – in the 12 months after it was implemented in 2007.
An NHS England press release dated December 2023 highlighted a total 408,700 smoking-related hospital admissions in 2022/23. This was up almost 5% on 2021/22 (389,800) but below the 2019/20 figure from before the Covid-19 pandemic (446,400).
“Around one in six (16%) of all hospital admissions for respiratory diseases in 2022/23 were estimated to be related to smoking, while it also caused 8% of all admissions for cancers and 7% of admissions for cardiovascular diseases,” it read.
Smoking is the UK’s single biggest preventable killer and costs the NHS and the economy an estimated £17 billion a year, according to the Government.
– Who supports and opposes the measures?
YouGov asked 3,715 adults in Great Britain about a pub gardens and outdoor restaurants smoking ban on Thursday, and pollsters found 58% of British adults would either tend to support or strongly support those measures. Just over a third (35%) said they tended to oppose or strongly opposed the idea.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey told BBC Breakfast on Thursday: “The question is, are they (Labour) getting the balance right?”
He had earlier said: “I think we’d have to look at the details. I mean, we’ve got to be careful in going over the top, but of course there’s a case for making sure we can encourage people to stop smoking.”
Tim Martin, who founded the JD Wetherspoon pub chain, told the PA news agency “the question is whether the Government should interfere in individual liberties where danger is involved” and added: “I don’t think it will have a big effect on our business, one way or the other, and is really a libertarian issue.”
Conservative shadow health secretary Victoria Atkins wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “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.”
Shadow business secretary Kevin Hollinrake claimed “Labour talk a good game on supporting pubs in opposition but when in power they do otherwise”, and added: “(Mayor of London) Sadiq Khan has run London’s nightlife into the ground and now this shocking government plan to ban smoking in beer gardens and terraces, which will mean many more will close their doors for the last time.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage lit up a Benson and Hedges outside the Westminster Arms, near the Houses of Parliament, and hailed smokers the “heroes of the nation in terms of the amount of taxation they pay”.
