Attempt Underway in Parliament to Ban Smoking in Pub Beer Gardens !
In the News
I speak as an ex smoker -so no personal axe to grind .
Having nothing better to do in Parliament - what Covid crisis , what Brexit crisis ? a cross party group are now trying to ban smoking in Pubs outdoor areas !
90% of the time pubgoers are happy to see smokers getting frozen and soaked in pursuit of their addiction .
Now come summer and social distancing reducing the interior space in pubs the anti smoking brigade now want to further stigmatise the unclean !!!
I don't mind further segregation - non smoking areas in Beer gardens for instance - but a ban in an outdoor area - Bonkers ! Have our elected representative lost ALL their marbles ?
Well, it's one way to get all those new flats and houses built to bring in money for private landlords letting out to students and working professionals who have come from outside the area. Then they can buy more family houses with all the profit from the rent payments from renting out all rooms...then buy a few more houses or flats to make more hmo money.
Lost me there ? What has smoking ( or not ) in pub beer gardens got to do with your mini rant ?
It makes it harder to quit if you are forced to share a space with people who are smoking especially if your drinking
Pubs were not opened because they are completely safe but to save jobs in the industry and save pubs from permanently closing . Also to give folks a bit of relaxation after the lockdown .
Where would you like people to go for a smoke in an outdoor area , one street away ,two streets away ?
Think in that case smokers would just stay away from pubs nullifying the attempt to breathe life into the pub industry .
Remember if it weren't for the smokers many more pubs would close . So you could have your smoke free Beer garden but with the pub it belonged to permanently closed .
If its band completely then it will be end of most pubs who has their regulars. Some will manage but alot of pubs have closed since they introduced indoor ban
Problem is many folks don't even want the slightest hint of cigarette smoke in an outdoor beer garden when they go for a monthly visit to a pub ! Then moan if they detect a cigarette within 100 yards !
Sorry to such people but if they expect the pubs to be open for their monthly drink , someone has to be using them( and probably smoking ) for the rest of the time !
Golfforall if they don't like it they could always stay at home most of them are independent businesses that won't survive. Just imagine it was 20 odd year ago where people were smoking in doctors reception waiting aera hospitals had smoking rooms, pubs were packed because smoking was allowed
If this gets passed, it'll close down our local for good.
It's a very small pub where on a good day, you might get 8-10 people in there with the majority of them being smokers.
It just won't survive.
The strangest thing about smoking bans and possibility of is how they make every one on each side self-righteous
Not a smoker myself and have to say dislike being near people who are smoking, but equally I respect freedom of choice, so not in favour of a ban, but maybe they could just designate a certain area for smokers.
I think pubs should have a separate area for people to smoke away from any entrance and other tables. I hate it when smokers stand in or near doorways and you have to walk through smoke to get anywhere.
I was a smoker when the initial indoors ban came in years ago (2007 I think ) . I respected it then and supported the reasons for it as did my fellow smoking pubgoers .
Well that was my previous local , along with thousands of other pubs it closed within a couple of years certainly a big factor in those closures was the smoking ban .
It's now two houses along four houses in what was once the carpark .
I think smokers have now adapted to smoke in beer gardens , while many have given up on pubgoing altogether.
Whether we like it or not smokers are still the mainstay of the majority of our pubs , be careful what you wish for ! Should this ban go ahead then your favourite pub may well be shuttered next time you go for your monthly visit .
I think landlords and ladies are perfectly capable of segregating their beer gardens if they deem it necessary .
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