Leaked UK Government documents have revealed proposed plans to extend the indoor smoking ban to areas outside nightclubs, pubs, restaurants, and football stadiums. If approved, the ban would spell the end of smoking in outdoor nightclub smoking areas, as well as in pub gardens. Ministers are considering this action to curb the uptake of smoking and vaping, especially among young people. However, the hospitality sector argues that a ban could adversely affect their businesses.
The ban is part of a broader set of measures proposed in a bill targeting tobacco and vaping. The goal is to gradually eliminate smoking by banning the sale of tobacco and vapes to anyone born after January 2009. Originally introduced by the previous Conservative Government under Rishi Sunak, Keir Starmer’s Labour Government has now adopted this idea.
The measures would apply only to England. The other UK nations would be allowed to make their own decisions. Starmer did not rule out a ban on smoking in nightclub smoking areas and pub gardens. He had this to say:
“That is a preventable death; it’s a huge burden on the NHS and, of course, it is 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”
Full plans for the outdoor smoking ban are likely to change following consultations, but it’s understood that many figures within Starmer’s Labour cabinet are in favor of such measures.
