Is UK planning to ban smoking? Here’s what PM Starmer said
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Thursday his government is planning to introduce tougher anti-smoking measures — a move expected to eventually ban smoking in outdoor spaces, including pubs and restaurants.
Smoking has been prohibited inside pubs, restaurants, and most workplaces in the UK since 2007. Despite this, smoking-related illnesses continue to strain the National Health Service, with costs exceeding 2.5 billion pounds per year in England alone, according to NHS figures.
“My starting point on this is to remind everybody that over 80,000 people lose their lives every year because of smoking,” Starmer said in Paris while visiting French President Emmanuel Macron, according to news agency Reuters.
“So, yes, we are going to take decisions in this space, more details will be revealed, but this is a preventable series of deaths and we’ve got to take action to reduce the burden on the NHS and the taxpayer,” he added.
The Labour government has already announced plans to reintroduce legislation from the previous Conservative administration that would prohibit the sale of tobacco to anyone born on or after January 2009.
Under this plan, which did not become law due to an early election, the legal age for purchasing cigarettes in England would increase by one year, every year, until it eventually becomes illegal for the entire population.
“As we consider the implications of these potential restrictions, we must question whether such an approach is truly in the public interest, or whether it risks over-regulation at the cost of personal freedom and business viability,” said Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association.
Clive Watson, pub entrepreneur and chairman of Inda pub group, said it’s a ‘bonkers’ idea that “will encourage customers to stay at home, meaning there is no health upside.”
Earlier this year, it was the Rishi Sunak-led British government that proposed smoking ban, with an aim to prevent young people from ever smoking. The bill even passed its first hurdle in Parliament on Tuesday despite strong opposition from some members of the Conservative Party.
The bill revealed by Sunak in 2023, sought to forbid the sale of tobacco products to anyone who was born on or after January 1, 2009.
The bill was to give Britain some of the strictest anti-smoking laws in the world if it is approved.
According to officials, the bill was intended to make the “first smoke-free generation” in Britain.
Smoking has been prohibited inside pubs, restaurants, and most workplaces in the UK since 2007. Despite this, smoking-related illnesses continue to strain the National Health Service, with costs exceeding 2.5 billion pounds per year in England alone, according to NHS figures.
“My starting point on this is to remind everybody that over 80,000 people lose their lives every year because of smoking,” Starmer said in Paris while visiting French President Emmanuel Macron, according to news agency Reuters.
“So, yes, we are going to take decisions in this space, more details will be revealed, but this is a preventable series of deaths and we’ve got to take action to reduce the burden on the NHS and the taxpayer,” he added.
The Labour government has already announced plans to reintroduce legislation from the previous Conservative administration that would prohibit the sale of tobacco to anyone born on or after January 2009.
Under this plan, which did not become law due to an early election, the legal age for purchasing cigarettes in England would increase by one year, every year, until it eventually becomes illegal for the entire population.
“As we consider the implications of these potential restrictions, we must question whether such an approach is truly in the public interest, or whether it risks over-regulation at the cost of personal freedom and business viability,” said Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association.
Clive Watson, pub entrepreneur and chairman of Inda pub group, said it’s a ‘bonkers’ idea that “will encourage customers to stay at home, meaning there is no health upside.”
Earlier this year, it was the Rishi Sunak-led British government that proposed smoking ban, with an aim to prevent young people from ever smoking. The bill even passed its first hurdle in Parliament on Tuesday despite strong opposition from some members of the Conservative Party.
The bill revealed by Sunak in 2023, sought to forbid the sale of tobacco products to anyone who was born on or after January 1, 2009.
The bill was to give Britain some of the strictest anti-smoking laws in the world if it is approved.
According to officials, the bill was intended to make the “first smoke-free generation” in Britain.
