Landlord with 'UK's best pub garden' says anti-smoking plan 'not thought through'
Keir Starmer's plans to stop people smoking in public places have not been "thought through", according to a landlord with Britain's best beer garden.
Simon Colquhoun, landlord of The Gaggle of Geese, in Buckland Newton, Dorchester, said any measure that puts customers off visiting pubs is a "problem".
His comments come after it emerged the government is considering banning considering banning smoking in outdoor public spaces such as pub gardens.
The Gaggle of Geese was awarded best pub garden in 2023 by The Best British Awards. Its five-acre garden includes a glamping and camping site as well as a mini golf course, double decker bus and a kids play area.
Colquhoun, 47, said the indoor smoking ban had already had a major impact on pubs, adding: "It’s a tough time for pubs at the moment and inflation last year meant everything shot up. Our running costs went up by 40%, last year."
He added: "We are fortunate that we are not just a pub, and this could be another thing that affects them.
“Our kids’ playing area is a non smoking, non-vaping area anyways but I’m not sure this has been thought through. Anything that stops people coming to our pubs, is a problem."
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On Thursday it emerged that Labour is planning to make it illegal to smoke a cigarette in beer gardens and outside restaurants, football stadiums and other public spaces, sparking concerns from the hospitality sector about its impact on venues.
Currently smoking is banned indoors, but the prime minister reportedly wants to extend it to all outdoor public spaces as part of tougher laws around smoking and vaping.
'Huge burden on the NHS'
Asked about the plans, which were reportedly found in leaked Whitehall documents, Starmer said he was committed to "take decisions in this space", warning that smoking kills more than 80,000 people each year.
He said: “It’s a huge burden on the NHS and, of course, it’s a burden on the taxpayer.”
Smoking is the UK’s single biggest preventable killer and costs the NHS and the economy an estimated £17 billion a year, according to the government.
Its latest plans come after it confirmed via the King's Speech in July that it would resurrect Rishi Sunak’s proposed smoking ban, with plans seeing anyone born after 2009 prevented from ever legally buying tobacco.
Britons 'support Starmer's plan to ban smoking outside pubs'
Over half of Britons support the idea of banning smoking outside pubs, YouGov polling has shown.
A survey of 3,715 adults on Thursday (29 August) asked, 'Would you support or oppose banning smoking in pub gardens and outdoor restaurants?', with over 50% voting in favour of the idea.
Some 35% said they would strongly support a ban, while 23% said they would tend to support.
In contrast, 17% of Brits polled said they would tend to oppose a ban, with 18% saying they strongly oppose the idea. Some 7% said they don't know.
