How would an outdoor smoking ban work – and who would be part of the ‘smoke-free generation’?
The government has said it is considering banning smoking in pub gardens and other outdoor areas.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer confirmed the proposal is in the works on Thursday, following reports in The Sun.
He says the measures are aimed at reducing the 80,000 preventable deaths from smoking in the UK each year.
Labour also wants to continue with the previous government’s plans to create a ‘smoke-free generation’ by banning the sale of cigarettes in the future to anyone 14 or under.
While details of the new plans are still in the works, here’s what we know so far and how the ban might work.
How would the outdoor ban work?
Smoking has been illegal in enclosed public places and workplaces since 2007 in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland – and since 2006 in Scotland.
The current bans do not cover vapes.
Breaking the law on smoking in workplaces carries a £200 maximum fine in England, Wales and Northern Ireland – and £50 in Scotland. Businesses can be given penalties of up to £2,500 for failing to enforce the rules.
An outdoor ban would likely apply the same rules to most outdoor spaces – including some parks, all pub gardens, outdoor restaurants, sports venues, and areas outside nightclubs and hospitals.
Details on all the venues covered by the proposal and what the fines would be are yet to be released.
Why has the ban been proposed?
When asked to confirm the outdoor ban rumours, the prime minister said: “My starting point on this is to remind everyone that over 80,000 people lose their lives every year to smoking, that’s a preventable death, it’s a huge burden on the NHS and of course to the taxpayer”.
He promised to “take decisions in this space” to “reduce the burden on the NHS and the taxpayer”.
Smoking is the UK’s biggest preventable killer, causing around one in four cancer deaths and leading to 64,000 deaths per year in England, according to Dr Javed Khan’s 2022 review into making smoking obsolete.
It is hoped the plans will prevent tens of thousands of deaths and save the NHS billions of pounds.
Will it work?
Hospitality businesses are sceptical the plans are enforceable, however.
Reem Ibrahim, acting director of communications at the Institute of Economic Affairs thinktank, said they would be “another nail in the coffin for the pub industry”.
“Pubs and other private venues should be able to determine their own outdoor smoking rules – just as they should be allowed to decide whether to play music, serve food or show football on TV,” he added.
Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality echoed his concerns, saying the plans will also affect hotels, cafes, and restaurants.
She pointed to the number of pub closures after the indoor smoking bans of 2006 and 2007 – and called for businesses to be consulted before any measures are implemented.
What about 14s and under?
Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government proposed to ban anyone who was born on or after 1 January 2009 from buying cigarette or tobacco products.
This would effectively raise the legal age for buying cigarettes in England by one year every year, until it applies to the whole population.
Labour has said it will continue with the plans, laying out the Tobacco and Vapes Bill in the King’s Speech in July.
This will also include limits on the sale and marketing of vapes – but exact details have not been published yet.
As with previous plans, smoking would not be criminalised. Instead, the phased approach means those who are already old enough to buy cigarettes will be able to carry on doing so.
Older people, however, may have to carry ID if they want to buy cigarettes when the law changes.
Will the under-14 ban stop young people smoking?
There is “excellent evidence” increasing the legal age for buying tobacco from 16 to 18 in the UK “substantially reduced smoking prevalence”, according to Jamie Brown, professor of behavioural science at University College London (UCL).
“This provides good reason to expect this measure to have a similar impact,” he said.
Simon Clark, director of the smokers’ group Forest, said the ban was “creeping prohibition” and will not work.
“Anyone who wants to smoke will buy tobacco abroad or from illicit sources,” he said.
Are there any similar bans around the world?
New Zealand passed a similar ban, but it was repealed by the country’s new coalition government before it came into force.
How much of the population will be affected?
In 2022, 12.9% of the adult UK population (6.4 million people) were smokers, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
As for the ‘smoke-free generation’, 21% of the UK population is currently not allowed to buy cigarettes due to their age.
But assuming the age of sale rises to 19 in 2027, and increases by one year every year after that, the proportion of the population below the age of sale will reach 30% in 2035, 40% in 2044 and 50% in 2053.
The ban only covers England – what about the other UK nations?
The legal smoking age is a devolved issue, so the governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland set their own laws around it.
Depending on what laws the other nations adopt, there could be a situation where is it illegal for someone to buy cigarettes or smoke in pub gardens in England, but legal across the border.
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What are the next steps?
In the King’s Speech at the opening of the new parliament, Labour said the Tobacco and Vapes Bill would be introduced by the end of this year.
As with all legislation, it will need to be approved in the House of Commons and the House of Lords before being written into law.
If the government wants to stop people smoking, why not just ban cigarettes?
Banning tobacco outright would not immediately stop the UK’s 6.4 million smokers from smoking, Dr Sarah Jackson from UCL explains.
“Because cigarettes are so highly addictive, many people would be unable or unwilling to do so, and a ban would likely drive demand towards the illicit market,” she said.
“Gradually increasing the age of sale over time… will be helpful in discouraging young people from taking up smoking in the first place.”
What about vaping?
This government and the previous one have both vowed to crack down on vaping among children.
Vaping is “rightly” used as a tool to quit smoking, a spokesperson said, but they added: “The health advice is clear, if you don’t smoke, don’t vape and children should never vape”.
The name of the new bill reveals limits will be imposed on e-cigarettes.
This could mean flavours being restricted and tighter regulations on packaging and point-of-sale displays.
The ONS reported a rise in vaping among young people, with 15.5% of 16 to 24-year-olds reporting vaping daily or on occasion in 2022, up from 11.1% in 2021.
UK
Teenager living in ‘continuous pain’ after surgeon Dr Yaser Jabbar carried out ‘inappropriate’ operations
A 15-year-old boy who was operated on twice by a now unlicensed Great Ormond Street surgeon is living with “continuous” pain.
Finias Sandu has been told by an independent review the procedures he underwent on both his legs were “unacceptable” and “inappropriate” for his age.
The teenager from Essex was born with a condition that causes curved bones in his legs.
Aged seven, a reconstructive procedure was carried out on Finias’s left leg, lengthening the limb by 3.5cm.
A few years later, the same operation was carried out on his right leg which involved wearing an invasive and heavy metal frame for months.
He has now been told by independent experts these procedures should not have taken place and concerns have been raised over a lack of imaging being taken prior to the operations.
Yaser Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence last year. Pic: LinkedIn
His doctor at London’s prestigious Great Ormond Street Hospital was former consultant orthopaedic surgeon Yaser Jabbar. Sky News has spoken to others he treated.
Mr Jabbar also did not arrange for updated scans or for relevant X-rays to be conducted ahead of the procedures.
The surgeries have been found to have caused Finias “harm” and left him in constant pain.
“The pain is there every day, every day I’m continuously in pain,” he told Sky News.
“It’s not something really sharp, although it does get to a certain point where it hurts quite a lot, but it’s always there. It just doesn’t leave, it’s a companion to me, just always there.”
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Finias’s surgery pictures
Care of over 700 patients being assessed
Mr Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence in January last year after working at Great Ormond Street between 2017 and 2022.
The care of his 700-plus patients is being assessed, with some facing corrective surgery, among them Finias.
“Trusting somebody is hard to do, knowing what they have done to me physically and emotionally, you know, it’s just too much to comprehend for me,” he said.
“It wasn’t something just physically, like my leg pain and everything else. It was emotionally, because I put my trust in that specific doctor. My parents and I don’t really understand the more scientific terms, we just went by what he said.”
Doctors refused to treat Finias because of his surgeries
Finias and his family relocated to their native Romania soon after the reconstructive frame was removed from his right leg in the summer of 2021.
The pain worsened and they sought advice from doctors in Romania, who refused to treat Finias because of the impact of his surgeries.
Dozens of families seeking legal claims
His mother Cornelia Sandu is “furious” and feels her trust in the hospital has been shattered. They are now among dozens of families seeking legal claims.
Cyrus Plaza from Hudgell Solicitors is representing the family. He said: “In cases where it has been identified that harm was caused, we want to see Great Ormond Street Hospital agreeing to pay interim payments of compensation for the children, so that if they need therapy or treatment now, they can access it.”
Finias is accessing therapy and mental health support as he prepares for corrective surgery later in the year.
A spokesperson for Great Ormond Street Hospital told Sky News: “We are deeply sorry to Finias and his family, and all the patients and families who have been impacted.
“We want every patient and family who comes to our hospital to feel safe and cared for. We will always discuss concerns families may have and, where they submit claims, we will work to ensure the legal process can be resolved as quickly as possible.”
Finias with his mother and sister
Service not ‘safe for patients’
Sky News has attempted to contact Mr Jabbar.
An external review into the wider orthopaedic department at the hospital began in September 2022.
It was commissioned after the Royal College of Surgeons warned the hospital’s lower limb reconstruction service was not “safe for patients or adequate to meet demand”.
The investigation is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Sir Keir Starmer has said closer ties with the EU will be good for the UK’s jobs, bills and borders ahead of a summit where he could announce a deal with the bloc.
The government is set to host EU leaders in London on Monday as part of its efforts to “reset” relations post-Brexit.
A deal granting the UK access to a major EU defence fund could be on the table, according to reports – but disagreements over a youth mobility scheme and fishing rights could prove to be a stumbling block.
The prime minister has appeared to signal a youth mobility deal could be possible, telling The Times that while freedom of movement is a “red line”, youth mobility does not come under this.
His comment comes after Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, said on Friday work on a defence deal was progressing but “we’re not there yet”.
Sir Keir met European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen later that day while at a summit in Albania.
Ursula von der Leyen and Sir Keir had a brief meeting earlier this week. Pic: PA
If agreed, the deal will be the third in two weeks, following trade agreements with India and the US.
Sir Keir said: “First India, then the United States – in the last two weeks alone that’s jobs saved, faster growth and wages rising.
“More money in the pockets of British working people, achieved through striking deals not striking poses.
“Tomorrow, we take another step forward, with yet more benefits for the United Kingdom as the result of a strengthened partnership with the European Union.”
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Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said she is “worried” about what the PM might have negotiated.
Ms Badenoch – who has promised to rip up the deal with the EU if it breaches her red lines on Brexit – said: “Labour should have used this review of our EU trade deal to secure new wins for Britain, such as an EU-wide agreement on Brits using e-gates on the continent.
“Instead, it sounds like we’re giving away our fishing quotas, becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again and getting free movement by the back door. This isn’t a reset, it’s a surrender.”
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