Action on Smoking and Health
Action on Smoking and Health – ASHAction on Smoking and Health (ASH) is an independent public health charity set up by the Royal College of Physicians to end the harm caused by tobacco.
There are few issues with stronger political and public consensus than bringing rates of smoking down. Rishi Sunak used his 2023 conference speech to announce that he would bring forward legislation to phase out the sale of tobacco to the next generation and turn the UK into a smokefree country. It had strong public support and navigated second reading and committee stage with cross-party support before the election with both Labour and Conservative manifestos pledged to bring it back.
It now looks likely, following a leak to The Sun, that when the bill returns it will include new powers to extend restrictions on where people can smoke outdoors. While any powers would require further consultation and regulations, it has been speculated that an extension could include hospital grounds, children’s play areas and hospitality spaces.
A Smokefree Country: The Evidence
It is the last of these which has provoked the fiercest response with some going so far as to claim that banning smoking in pub beer gardens will result in ‘violence on the streets’. Secretary of State Wes Streeting called on one Tory MP to ‘get a grip’ after she compared restrictions on smoking to the holocaust.
Indeed, everyone should take a deep, smokefree, breath and look at the evidence:
- Smoking kills. It disproportionately robs the poorest in society of years of healthy life having addicted people in childhood.
- Smoking rates have fallen to all time low of around 13%. When the indoor ban was introduced in 2007 rates were double this level – implementation was seamless, self-enforcing, popular and saved lives.
- Pubs have not been struggling because of smoking restrictions. It was a claim made at the time and repeated since but was debunked in 2009 by the BBC. Furthermore, places, such as Manchester with a thriving nighttime economy, have introduced restrictions on smoking in outdoor pavement seating areas with no reports yet of catastrophic impacts.
- Smoking is a massive drain on the economy to the tune of £21.9Bn. The hospitality sector, like many others, needs a healthy and productive workforce, something that smoking is undermining.
- This measure works well in other countries with, little impact on hospitality (nor violence on the streets). In Canada 9 out of 13 provinces have successfully implemented patio smoking bans with benefits to the health of hospitality staff.
Public Perception on a Smokefree Britain
The public also support extending smokefree legislation to outdoor settings. In all places we have polled on, including hospitality, a majority of the British public back extensions. The support for further smokefree places has grown over time as people appreciate the benefits of the indoor smoking restrictions.
These restrictions are being proposed in the context of a planned phased out sale of tobacco, which will ultimately create a sunset on the sale of tobacco altogether. Labour pledged to create a roadmap to a smokefree country and a future where smoking is no longer the drain it currently is on our economy and communities. Revisiting smokefree legislation and having the public debate about where smoking should and shouldn’t be allowed is an appropriate and necessary part of that roadmap.
Who will ultimately mourn the loss of smoking in the pub beer garden? The economic impacts the industry is worried about are as unlikely to materialise as they were when the far more radical indoor ban came into force. Those who will smoke less or quit completely will have healthier bank balances and bodies. Those who have asthma, COPD or CVD, conditions which smoking exacerbates or triggers, will not miss the exposure. Nor will the army of hospitality staff that currently work in smoky outdoor spaces risking their health.
Really, those who stand to lose are the multinational tobacco companies who will see their pool of customers dwindle further. The hospitality sector will do just fine with fewer people smoking.
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