Proposals for outdoor smoking ban ‘not the nanny state’, says health minister

An outdoor smoking ban proposed by the Government is “not the nanny state”, a health minister has insisted.

Baroness Merron defended the mooted move at Westminster in the face of charges the new Labour administration had “marched ahead in a heavy and flat-footed manner”.

According to leaked Whitehall papers, ministers are looking at extending the indoor smoking ban to pub beer gardens, restaurant terraces, university and hospital campuses, sports grounds, children’s play areas and small parks.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said the Government will “take decisions” on smoking, in an effort to tackle preventable deaths and ease pressures on the NHS.

However, the hospitality industry had warned the proposals threaten to further add to the challenges facing the struggling sector.

It comes after the Labour Government revived plans to phase out smoking and impose restrictions on the sale and marketing of vapes to children.

Public backing

Speaking in Parliament, Lady Merron highlighted recent polling that suggested most people backed a ban on smoking in pub gardens and outdoor restaurants and argued that “public opinion has shifted”.

She said: “There is no good impact of smoking, including passive smoking, and that is why the Prime Minister has indicated his support for the direction of travel”.

The minister was tackled over the plans by Tory peer Lord Geddes, who declared his interest as a member of Parliament’s pipe and cigar smokers’ club, “although I indulge in neither”.

He said: “When the Government do come out with the details, will they make a full assessment of noble effect on the hospitality industry for such a ban, which is going to have significant effects on employment, let alone the enjoyment of those who indulge?

“Will she not agree that this is a case of the nanny state multiplied by indefinite number?”

Lady Merron said: “I can’t agree that this is the nanny state gone to a new level. This is about protecting people’s health.”

She assured peers the hospitality industry would be consulted and an impact assessment produced.

Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Northover said: “Can I urge the Government to resist the siren voices which so often have accompanied efforts to protect the public from tobacco smoke?”

She added: “It is a joy to be in public places which are now smoke free. Does she agree that now restaurants and pubs have pavement licences that these areas too should, like the interiors, be smoke free?”

Lady Merron said: “I am glad she is welcoming the direction of travel.”

Retired top consultant and independent crossbencher Lord Patel said: “The statistics are quite clear that smoking causes immense harm to those that indulge in it.”

Lady Merron said: “It is about giving people the environment and the support they need in order to protect their own health and create a healthy environment.”

Tory frontbencher Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay said: “The Prime Minister promised us a Government that would tread more lightly on our lives, but in this area the Government seems to have marched ahead in a rather heavy and flat-footed manner.

“Many businesses in our hospitality industry and indeed in our cultural sector such as live music venues are still recovering from the pandemic and its aftermath.

“During that pandemic and in light of the 2007 (indoor smoking) ban, many of them invested in good faith considerable sums in adapting their premises to be suitable.”

He questioned the lack of an impact assessment and consultation before the plans became public.

Pointing out the proposals had been leaked, Lady Merron said: “I would suggest that what we are doing here is acting on evidence. Passive smoking has a negative impact on people’s lives. We have a responsibility to look at measures to improve that.”