Plans to ban smoking outside pubs and clubs in the UK could be blocked

Figures from across the hospitality industry said the proposed ban would cause "serious economic harm" to clubs and venues

The UK government are reportedly trying to block the prime minister’s plans to ban smoking outside pubs and clubs.

• READ MORE: 2023 was “worst year for venue closures” while “no one in music industry seems to care”, say MVT

Keir Starmer proposed the ban, which would prohibit smoking in pub gardens, outside restaurants, nightclubs, and open-air music venues, in August.

The regulations were set to come into place as part of a landmark Tobacco and Vapes bill, which will also make it illegal for anyone born in 2009 or later to buy tobacco products in the UK.

Starmer initially introduced ideas of the outdoor smoking ban as a measure that would improve public health and reduce the strain on the National Health Service and the taxpayer. Currently, 80,000 people die every year in the UK as a result of smoking.

However, the proposal has been controversial, with figures in the hospitality industry saying it will worsen the current crisis facing pubs, clubs and music venues.

The trade body UKHospitality said the ban threatens “serious economic harm to hospitality venues”, while the British Beer and Pub Association said the plan was “deeply concerning and difficult to understand” and “yet another blow to the viability of our nation’s vital community assets”.

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Now, there are reports that No 10 officials are blocking the ban, with some deeming it “an unserious” policy as “the evidence is too thin” to prove a significant health risk to non-smokers, per the Guardian.

The paper reports that key figures within Downing Street are urging Starmer to ditch the ban, including Lucy Powell, the leader of the house, and Morgan McSweeney, the prime minister’s chief of staff.

Some MPs are reportedly “spooked” at the prospect of damage to the hospitality industry, however Starmer has previously refused to rule it out.

It follows reports that 37 per cent of all clubs across the country have permanently shut since March 2020 – an average of three clubs a week and 150 per year. New figures from the Night Time Industries Association also found that, if the trend continues, clubbing will be “extinct” in the UK by December 31, 2029.

The issue expands beyond clubs too, as back in January, findings by Music Venue Trust (MVT) pointed to a “disaster” facing grassroots music venues as a whole across 2023.

Among the key findings into their “most challenging year”, it was reported that last year saw 125 UK venues abandon live music and that over half of them had shut entirely – including the legendary Moles in Bath.

On July 1, 2007, it became illegal to smoke in any pub, bar, restaurant, cafe, nightclub, gig venue and most workplaces and work vehicles, anywhere in the United Kingdom.

In January of this year, the UK government announced plans to ban disposable vapes in a bid to tackle the rise in youth vaping and protect children’s health (via GOV.UK).

It came after Glastonbury and Reading & Leeds banned disposable vapes from their festival sites the previous year.