Keir Starmer‘s outdoor smoking ban is ‘just not worth it’ and would have ‘little’ health benefits, top medics warned today.
Under the reported crackdown, the public could be barred from lighting up in pub gardens, near football grounds and even outside nightclubs.
Pavements beside universities and hospitals, restaurant terraces and shisha bars are also expected to be made smoke-free zones — as the new Labour government cracks down even harder than former PM Rishi Sunak planned.
But health experts told MailOnline that issues arising from second-hand smoke outdoors were ‘likely very low’.
One cancer specialist with over 40 years’ experience, told MailOnline: ‘I’m anti-smoking, as an oncologist I know the harms, but this is going a bit too far.
Under the crackdown, the punters could be barred from lighting up in pub gardens, near football grounds and even outside nightclubs
Professor Karol Sikora, former chief of the World Health Organisation’s cancer programme added: ‘Given the cost of enforcing it and the cost to the hospitality industry, in terms of public health gain, is just not worth it.’
He added that previous policies including the 2007 indoor smoking ban had made a ‘huge difference’ in reducing smoking rates.
However these wouldn’t be replicated by a ‘nanny state’ outdoor ban.
‘To not allow smoking in public spaces outside is too far, over-the-top, and impossible to police,’ he said.
‘And those who have decided they’re going to smoke, no matter what, are going to continue anyway.’
He added that a person outdoors would need to stand surrounded by ’10 or so smokers’ for there to be a substantially increased risk of suffering health consequences from second-hand smoke.
Meanwhile, Dr Lion Shahab, an expert in health psychology and Co-Director, University College London‘s Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group told MailOnline the chance of getting health issues from second-hand smoke outdoors was ‘likely very low’.
He said: ‘The intention with this legislation is probably not necessarily to reduce second hand exposure, there will be some small effects, but it’s going to be quite low because of wind blowing smoke away.
According to the research platform Our World In Data, 13.7 per cent of New Zealanders smoked in 2020 compared to 15.4 per cent of Brits and 23 per cent of Americans
‘There will probably be some health benefits to not being exposed to smoking outdoors.
‘But the gain that is achieved will probably be less than indoors [smoking bans].’
However Dr Shahab concluded: ‘The main impact is going to changing the norms of smoking behaviour.
‘Smokers who have considered stopping will do so and if there’s less opportunity to light up, they’re less likely to pick up the habit again.’
After smoking indoors was banned in 2007, it encouraged people to stop smoking inside their own homes, according to research.
An outdoor smoking ban could have similar knock-on benefits and represent ‘a net positive effect on population health’, Dr Shahab said.
The 7,000 chemicals in tobacco — including tar and others that can narrow arteries and damage blood vessels — are thought to be behind some of the damage smoking inflicts on the heart.
Meanwhile, nicotine — a highly addictive toxin found in tobacco — is heavily linked with dangerous increases in heart rate and blood pressure.
Smoking also unleashes poisonous gases such as carbon monoxide, which replaces oxygen in the blood — reducing the availability of oxygen for the heart.
Currently only a handful of nations worldwide have stricter anti-tobacco laws. Last year, Mexico enacted a total ban on smoking in public places.
The step, which was first approved in 2021, also includes a ban on tobacco advertising, meaning that cigarettes cannot even be on show inside shops.
Meanwhile in Canada, smoking is banned on public transit and in all indoor public spaces, including restaurant and bar patios.
Other health experts today hailed the UK’s rumoured plans a step in the right direction.
Deborah Arnott, chief executive of the charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) said the government was ‘catching up with what the public expects, and that’s not to have to breathe in tobacco smoke in places like children’s play areas and seating areas outside pubs, restaurants and cafes’.
However, she added it was important to ensure that there were still outdoor areas for people to ‘smoke in the open air, rather than inside their homes’.
Meanwhile, Dr Layla McCay, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, said she was ‘obviously in favour of measures that help abolish smoking’.
She told BBC Radio 4: ‘It is absolutely the health challenge of our time. It’s the leading cause of preventable illness in the UK.
‘So, we are heartened to see that progress is being made and that the intention is moving forward to really address one of Britain’s main drivers of health inequalities.’
It is reported the Prime Minister is set to press forward with the bill.
He is also said to have the backing of Chief Medical officer Professor Chris Whitty, while ministers will argue that the economic benefits outweigh its potential costs.
Ministers are expected to claim smoking costs £21.8billion in health spending.
The original ban on indoor smoking, introduced across the UK by Tony Blair in 2007, was blamed by some for leading to the closure of pubs, particularly smaller ones that could not adapt.
It follows more recent anti-smoking measures, such as a ban on menthol cigarettes in 2020 and outlawing smoking in cars with children in 2015.
However, it is currently unclear how far away from a location such as a pub or restaurant a smoker would have to walk before they could legally light up.
The country has a target of becoming ‘smoke-free’ by 2030 — where only five per cent of the nation would have cigarettes.
It comes just months after the House of Commons overwhelmingly approved the second reading of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, inching the government closer to enforcing in law that anyone born after January 1 2009 would never be able to legally buy cigarettes.
If eventually passed, it would mean the age at which people can purchase cigarettes will be raised by one year annually.
While smoking rates are falling, the growing population means there are still around 6.4 million smokers in the UK.
It is estimated that around 500,000 hospital admissions every year in England are attributable to smoking and that smoking costs the economy £17billion per year.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2023 health report showed 12.7 per cent of Brits over the age of 15 smoke cigarettes daily, far higher than the US and New Zealand, the latter of which recently introduced a similar phased smoking ban
Data from Cancer Research UK also shows there were around 57,600 diagnoses of cancers caused by smoking in 2023, compared to 49,325 in 2003.
Tobacco is known to cause 16 different types of cancer, with lung cancer alone causing 33,000 cases annually.
A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said: ‘We do not comment on leaks.
‘Smoking claims 80,000 lives a year, puts huge pressure on our NHS and costs taxpayers billions.
‘We are determined to protect children and non-smokers from second-hand smoking. We’re considering a range of measures to finally make Britain smoke-free.’
