Friday afternoon, sun over Richmond, perfect weather for smoking. Claudio Carta, 40, one of the managers of the “Coach & Horses”, sits outside the pub, cigarette in hand, relaxed. The proposed ban? He smiles.
The new Labour government wants to ban smoking in various outdoor places (at least in England). These include sports fields, university campuses and beer gardens. Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirmed corresponding reports from the Sun and pointed to the 80,000 smoking-related deaths in the United Kingdom each year.
Not only is the proposal welcomed by many Britons – according to a YouGov poll, 58 percent would support the measure and 35 percent would reject it – it also does not come as a complete surprise. The course of action was already apparent under the Tory government.
Starmer’s predecessor, Rishi Sunak, had announced a law in November (Tobacco and Vapes Bill), according to which the minimum age for buying cigarettes is to be gradually increased every year. As soon as it comes into force, no one under 15 will be allowed to buy (e-)cigarettes, next year no one under 16 and so on. This means that anyone born after 2008 will no longer be able to buy cigarettes in the Kingdom.
The resistance within the party itself was immense, some conservatives felt that the freedom of citizens was being violated. Critics spoke of a “nanny state” in which the state controls citizens with excessive caution and harsh regulations like a strict nanny. This is especially true as the number of consumers in the kingdom is steadily decreasing anyway. Today, however, one in eight citizens still smokes.
Sunak was unable to get the law passed before he was replaced in July. His successor, Starmer, is simply continuing the policy. One of his arguments is that smoking-related illnesses are a burden on the National Health Service (NHS). The NHS is talking about billions of euros a year.
Money is now also a concern for the grumbling gastronomy industry, and has been for a while. In 2000 there were more than 60,000 pubs in the UK, but last year there were only about 45,000. The more recent reasons: Since Brexit there has been a shortage of staff, during Covid there was a shortage of guests, gas and electricity costs are increasing. And beer is also becoming more and more expensive (price in the “Coach & Horses”: 7.20 pounds, or 8.50 euros for just over a half pint). The ban passed in 2007, in Smoking in pubs has not helped either. So it is hardly surprising that there is now widespread opposition to the proposed ban, before to smoke in the pubs.
Emma McClarkin of the British Beer and Pub Association complains: “For generations, pubs have welcomed people, not turned them away.” The association expects another 800 businesses to close in the next five years, which is “devastating”.
So why does Claudio Carta just smile when he thinks about the smoking ban in front of the “Coach & Horses”? “I don’t think it will have much of an effect.” Who should monitor it? The police? And on the one hand, fewer and fewer of his guests are smoking anyway; on the other hand, the few who do will simply go around the corner if in doubt. “If you want to smoke, smoke.”
