No one ever thought inheriting the task of turning the country around after 14 years of Tory rule would be easy.
The cost of living crisis shows no sign of abating. National debt has hit its highest level since 1962. Prisons are full. Far-right extremist views have become par for the course. And those are just a handful of the most pressing issues we’re facing right now.
Labour’s general election victory was never going to change all that in a matter of months. And in the age of its Tory-lite rebrand, it’s gaining quite the reputation for co-signing more Conservative Party policies than traditional Labour voters would like.
But to resurrect one of the really mad ones? You know, the last-ditch shit we saw Rishi Sunak chuck at the wall in the run up to the election in hope of clinging to power? I’m not sure many of us saw that coming. Yet on the list of potential comebacks mooted by Labour is the smoking ban.
According to reports, Keir Starmer is considering introducing a stricter version of his predecessor’s tobacco and vapes bill, which would expand areas where smoking would be banned to include pub gardens, nightclubs, outside stadiums, outdoor sections in restaurants and on pavements in the vicinity of such establishments.
Starmer certainly didn’t rule anything out when he was asked about it on his trip to Paris this week, citing the 80,000 people who die each year of smoking-related illnesses: “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.”
Now, I won’t pretend smoking isn’t an unnecessary health hazard with little merit other than its ability to satiate tobacco addictions. It isn’t good for the environment. It isn’t good for our bodies. It’s bloody expensive. And to those who don’t partake, it is quite often nauseating.
But for anyone who is soothed by the feeling of pulling on a fag and making the embers sizzle, drink in hand, conversation with friends in full swing, news of this ban will land like a ton of bricks. It may even see punters with this affliction avoid pubs altogether. Imagine the scenes.
I’m being a little facetious. Logically speaking, measures that help to stop us making unhealthy choices aren’t inherently bad. We have some of the world’s worst habits when it comes to overconsumption of alcohol, for example.
But banning one harmful habit from establishments that push others doesn’t exactly seem like the best use of resources. Especially not now.
It’d be like enforcing a ban on fizzy drinks at chicken shops. Or enforcing a 100-calorie limit on dessert menu items at restaurants. Or, indeed, banning shisha pipes from shisha bars – which could also be hit by the ban if it comes into force.
We know these things aren’t “good” for us. That’s never been a point of contention. Removing the choice to indulge – which, let’s face it, is pretty much what pubs and similar establishments are built on – feels less like an act of care and more like a sticking plaster for entirely different, and much more severe, injuries.
Pubs are not health hubs. They’re boozers with the express purpose of giving people somewhere comfortable to gather and nurse unhealthy habits.
They’re also businesses. And business will undoubtedly suffer if one of the unique pleasures of that business is taken away.
The measure also ignores the fact that in 2020, when a number of establishments were forced to close due to the pandemic, the steady decline in smoking in the UK came to a halt.
The reasons cited included higher levels of stress, isolation, poor mental health and general upheaval. I can think of a number of factors outside of the existence of pub and club smoking areas that contribute to the above. Perhaps the Government should focus on tackling those.
Smoking is undoubtedly bad for us. I accept that wholeheartedly. And I welcome the prospect of seeing a smoke-free nation sooner rather than later.
But I fail to see how completing the transformation of the UK into a nanny state will help us with more immediate matters that the Government doesn’t seem to have any plans to curb.
