SIR Keir Starmer has today CONFIRMED he is looking at banning smoking in outdoor spaces like pub gardens.
The PM was asked about government leaks to The Sun revealing drastic plans to outlaw cigarettes from a raft of new locations.
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Speaking in Paris, he said “yes, we are going to take decisions in this space” to protect people’s health.
We revealed today that lighting up will also be stubbed out at outdoor restaurants, open-air spaces at clubs, and outside football stadiums.
It will also apply outside universities, hospitals, sports grounds, kids’ play areas and small parks.
The hospitality sector sounded the alarm that it could cripple already-struggling pubs and bars – while Nigel Farage warned it could spell the “end of pubs”.
Asked about our exclusive report, Sir Keir said: “My starting point on this is to remind everybody that over 80,000 people lose their lives every year because of smoking.
“That is a preventable death, it’s a huge burden on the NHS and, of course, it is a burden on the taxpayer.
“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.”
Kate Nicholls, the chair of Hospitality UK, said the proposals were of a “huge degree of concern”.
She told LBC: “This wouldn’t just affect pub gardens… It’s also restaurant areas. It’s the cafes. It’s the high streets. It’s the seating that’s outside those areas.
“So where there’s been a heavy investment made in the period post-Covid into creating those outside areas, which have brought so much light and life to our town centres and high streets.
“This would be a very significant impact on those customers that use those areas, both smokers and non smokers.”
However backers of an outdoor smoking ban said it would both help save lives and billions for the NHS.
Dr Layla McCay, of the NHS Confederation, told the BBC: “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.”
Yet furious politicians decried the plans as “nanny-statism” and vowed to oppose the plans.
Tory leadership candidate Dame Priti Patel said: “Imposing nanny state regulation like this on pubs and restaurants would not only be wrong but economically damaging.
“These are small businesses, run by hardworking people, that provide jobs up and down the country.”
Fellow contender Robert Jenrick piled in: “The last thing this country needs is thousands more pubs closing.
“Our country faces huge challenges. Why is Starmer focusing on this nonsense?”
Secret Whitehall papers seen by The Sun show ministers plotting to drastically extend the indoor smoking ban to beer gardens and outside football stadiums.
Lighting up will be stubbed out at outdoor restaurants, open-air spaces at clubs, and pavements next to both.
It will also apply outside universities, hospitals, sports grounds, kids’ play areas and small parks.
Ministers could also sting vapers.
And shisha bars are expected to fall foul of the new rules.
But the restrictions will not cover private homes, nor large open spaces such as parks or streets.
Hitting back at the bill, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: “It’ll be the end of pubs.”
A recent impact assessment concluded banning outdoor smoking will lead to closures and job losses.
