List of where outdoor smoking ban could be extended after pub garden U-turn

Keir Starmer has spoken out about the potential smoking ban (Picture: Rex/Getty)

Labour is considering extending the indoor smoking ban to outdoor areas such as playgrounds, schools and hospitals after making a U-turn on plans to ban smoking in pub gardens.

When the ban was first announced back in August, pub bosses hit out at PM Keir Starmer arguing that his proposal would ‘destabilise’ an industry already under ‘immense pressure’

But the newly-appointed government this week announced it will ditch the ban, arguing it ‘is not the right time’ to impose such a measure on a struggling hospitality industry.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘There are lots of things that we can and will do on public health that don’t impact on people’s liberties and livelihoods.

Smoking claims more than 80,000 lives a year (Credits: GETTY)

‘It is no secret that UK hospitality has had a battering in recent years with the pandemic, and also the challenges in the economy and in people’s pockets means that there’s an ongoing challenge.

‘So we listened to what the hospitality industry said, and therefore we’re not proposing to go ahead with an outdoor hospitality ban at this stage.’

The government will now consider banning smoking in other outdoor areas as part of their new Tobacco and Vapes Bill.

What are Labour’s plans?

The government announced yesterday that they are considering banning smoking and vaping in outdoor areas such as playgrounds, schools and hospital grounds.

In Scotland, Wales and Ireland, it is already an offence to smoke at hospitals. The Scottish government define the banned area as within 15 metres of a hospital building.

The move would come as part of Labour’s efforts to protect children and vulnerable people from the dangers of second-hand smoke.

The government’s chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, commented on the issue in The Times this week.

He wrote: ‘Outdoor spaces generally have lower concentrations of the toxic chemicals from tobacco than indoor spaces.

‘But studies show they can still be significant, near or downwind of smoking, or in areas like a walled or covered outdoor space.

‘If you can smell smoke, you are inhaling it in appreciably amounts.’

The government already announced a ban on the sale of single-use disposable vapes in England and Wales which will come into play next June.

Labour hope the clamp-down will stop children becoming addicted to nicotine at an early age – with the government now possessing the power to restrict vape flavours, displays and packaging.

Wes Streeting said the government’s plans are a ‘sensible package’ (Credits: Lucy North/PA Wire)

And Labour are also considering introducing a licensing scheme for shops, which retailers would require to sell tobacco, vape and nicotine products in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Stores could be issued with an on-the-spot fine of £200 if they are found to be selling to under-18s or stocking unregulated products.

Speaking about his and the government’s plans to curb smoking, Mr Streeting said: ‘We’re proposing to regulate vapes – vaping outside schools and playgrounds – as part of a wider package to clamp down on the scourge of youth vaping.

‘Taken together, I think this is a sensible package to tackle what is still one of Britain’s biggest killers in smoking, but also to clamp down on the scourge of use of vaping.’

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will prevent anyone born after 1 January 2009 from legally smoking by gradually raising the age at which tobacco can be bought.

During the summer’s Paralympics in Paris, PM Keir Starmer told reporters: ‘This is a preventable cause of deaths and we’ve got to take the action to reduce the burden on the NHS and reduce the burden on the taxpayer.’

All proposals will be open to public debate over the coming months.

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