‘Backdoor’ attempt to ban smoking outside

SMOKING could be banned outdoors in a “backdoor” attempt to hijack legislation intended to allow cafés, pubs and restaurants to serve more people outside during the coronavirus pandemic.

A cross-party group of peers has tabled an amendment to the Business and Planning Bill proposing that pavement licences should only be granted to venues if smoking is prohibited.

It comes as more than a million people in the UK have quit smoking since the start of the pandemic, with 41 per cent saying their decision was in direct response to the Covid-19 crisis.

The emergency legislation is being fast-tracked through Parliament, and will be reviewed by MPS next week when it will be decided whether any amendments should be accepted. The new law allows venues to extend seating areas on to pavements and car parks more easily.

During a House of Lords debate on Monday, Baroness Northover, who tabled the amendment, said: “Over 85 per cent of people do not smoke. There is a public health issue here, but also the issue of making pubs and restaurants appealing to the vast majority of people.”

The former Lib Dem health minister added: “The hospitality sector will not recover if we cannot make it an enjoyable experience for the majority of its clients.” She has teamed up with Lord Young, a health minister under Margaret Thatcher, and Lord Lansley, a former health secretary, to secure the ban, over fears “al fresco dining” will expose more people to second-hand smoke.

Lord Greenhalgh, a communities minister, accused the peers of trying to use the legislation as a “backdoor route to try to ban smoking in public places”.

Insisting the Government had “no plan to ban smoking in public places, he said: “Excessive regulation would lead to pub closures and job losses, Smokers should exercise social responsibility, and be considerate, and premises are able to set their own rules.”

Research by pro-smoking group Forest found that after the 2007 smoking ban the number of pubs in England fell by 20.7 per cent.

‘The hospitality sector will not recover if we cannot make it enjoyable for the majority of its clients’