Why has the proposed smoking area ban sparked outrage in the UK?

To reduce the number of preventable deaths linked to tobacco use, Labour wants to take the indoor smoking ban outdoors. Opponents of the plan – including those who don’t light up – are lamenting the loss of valuable spaces where ‘all the best socialising happens.’

It’s no secret that life online lacks substance. These days, with the false promise of lasting connectedness through social media growing tired, many of us are lonely, bored, and yearning for community.

Non-digital hangouts are increasingly hard to come by, however. So, too, are third places, which are integral to our wellbeing, but disappearing by the minute as we become more and more dependent on our devices.

On this note, it makes a considerable amount of sense that people in the UK are decrying the potential loss of smoking areas after it was confirmed that Labour is looking to rid the country of them.

Part of an effort to reduce the number of preventable deaths linked to tobacco use, it would be an extension of the 2007 indoor ban, prohibiting anyone from lighting up in beer gardens, a few small parks, and outside clubs.

I don’t smoke. I’ve never smoked. But I love a smoking area on a night out.

It’s the place for good chats, phone signal, and eardrum rest. I can’t see it being the same if it’s devoid of smokers – who tend to be disproportionately fun people.

— Tom Harwood (@tomhfh) August 29, 2024

‘More details will be revealed, but this is a preventable series of deaths, and we’ve got to take the action to reduce the burden on the NHS and reduce the burden on the taxpayer,’ said Keir Starmer, who’s also going ahead with the 2025 disposable vape ban (initially put forward by the previous government), as well as the bill introduced by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to ban those born after 2009 from buying cigarettes.

Without doubt, these moves are necessary. Tobacco is the UK’s single biggest preventable cause of death, killing two-thirds of long-term users – 80,000 people every year – and resulting in hundreds of thousands of hospital admissions annually.

Yet these alarming statistics have done little to assuage a large portion of the British public (35 per cent according to a YouGov poll of 3,715 people), whose response to what supporters (58 per cent) are calling a ‘sensible approach’ has been one of substantial outrage.

For some, it’s a breach of freedom, with Labour accused of bringing in a nanny state. For others – specifically those working in the hospitality sector – it’s the ‘final nail in the coffin’ for pubs and restaurants, threatening to damage businesses, jobs, and the nation’s economic growth. For most, it’s the end of socialising as we know it.