A review of smoking in the UK has called for smokers to be banned from beer gardens, cafe pavements, and even public beaches in a bid to make Britain ‘ smoke-free’ by 2030.
As ministers seek to cut the number of smokers in the country to 5% in the next eight years, a plan commissioned by the government has suggested barring smokers from beer gardens could go some way to encouraging people to stop altogether.
Smoking has been banned indoors in pubs and cafes since legislation was brought in in 2007, but now the government has announced it wants to kick things up a notch again following a torrid political week.
It’s questionable how well the recommendation would be received by publicans in an already struggling hospitality industry, where for many customers smoking and drinking go hand in hand.
Figures obtained by the smokers’ group Forest show there are 11,383 fewer pubs in England compared to 2006, a decline of 20.7% since the smoking ban was first introduced.
Current figures suggest that there are around six million smokers living in the UK today – around 13.5% of the population.
The ‘smoke free’ review, set out by Dr Javed Khan, has set out a total of 15 recommendations for action – including the bizarre suggestion to increase the legal smoking age year on year until it is so high that the entire population is effectively barred, described as a “must do” in the paper.
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Other suggestions for action include promoting vaping as an “effective tool to help people to quit smoking tobacco”, and investing an extra £70 million per year in stop-smoking services.
It has also been suggested that a tax on tobacco firms could be levied to help pay for the investment in stop-smoking services that is needed, with the review stressing that an extra £125million is needed per year to fund the support that smokers would need in order to quit.
The review stresses that any premises selling food and drink should ban smoking, with a suggestion that the ban should be extended beyond the doors of the premises onto the streets outside cafes, restaurants and pubs.
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It goes further, adding that smoking should be banned “in all outdoor areas where children are present”.
Image: The Courtyard
Speaking on the review, England’s chief medical officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty said: “The cigarette industry lobbyists will try to make this a debate between health and freedom. It is the most dishonest debate you can possibly imagine.
“The majority of people who are smokers wish to quit, but cannot because the cigarette industry has addicted them at a very young age. They cannot. That is not freedom of choice.
“If you’re in favour of freedom, you absolutely are not in favour of this addictive industry that kills so many people.”
Dr Khan added in his paper: “If we do nothing different, smoking will cause over half a million more deaths by 2030. Even if we reached the target of 5% by then, we would still have two million smokers, two-thirds of whom will die from smoking unless they quit
“To truly achieve a smoke-free society in this great country of ours, smoking should be obsolete. The Government now has the opportunity to make our country a place where cigarettes disappear from our shops. To make this a country where the tobacco industry won’t want to trade”
Simon Clark, director of the smokers’ group Forest, has said that: “creeping prohibition won’t stop young adults smoking” and that tobacco sales will simply be driven underground by harsher legislation.
Fundraiser set up after six-month-old baby girl tragically dies after multi-storey car park crash
Daisy Jackson
A six-month-old baby girl has tragically passed away following a collision in a multi-storey car park.
Sophia Kelemen, from Leigh in Greater Manchester, was airlifted to hospital with a broken pelvis and a brain bleed, but sadly died of her injuries on 3 January.
In a GoFundMe set up by her family, they said that the pram little Sophia was in was hit by a car in a Tenby supermarket car park.
A 33-year-old-man from Wigan has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving, driving without a license and without insurance.
Flaviu Naghi was also arrested on suspicion of drink driving and drug driving and has been released on bail for these offences.
He will appear before Swansea Crown Court on 7 February.
In the GoFundMe, Sophia’s aunt Adriana wrote: “A seemingly ordinary day turned into our family’s worst nightmare.
Six-month-old baby girl tragically dies after multi-storey car park crash. Credit: Dyfed-Powys Police
“The baby was airlifted to the hospital with a broken pelvis and a brain bleed and was ultimately diagnosed with brain damage due to the impact. Despite the efforts of the doctors, Sophia could not cope with the impact, the surgery, anaesthesia, the brain bleed and all the injuries were too much for her fragile heart, which eventually gave out.”
It’s now hoped that the family can raise £2,000 to repatriate Sophia to Romania, where her father is from, for burial.
In a statement, Dyfed-Powys Police said: “Sadly, we can confirm that a 6-month-old baby girl has died following a collision on the ground floor of the multi-storey car park in Tenby on January 2.
“Sophia Kelemen, from the Leigh, Manchester area, was taken to hospital but died of her injuries on January 3. Our thoughts remain with her family at this difficult time. They are being supported by specially trained officers.
“This is a tragic incident and is a live investigation. We ask that you do not speculate the circumstances.”
NHS strikes deal with private sector to cut waiting lists across the UK
Emily Sergeant
A new deal has been struck between the NHS and the private sector to help tackle waiting lists across the UK.
As part of a “radical” new plan set to be launched by the NHS and Government next week to end the hospital waiting list backlog and to give patients nationwide “greater choice”, hundreds of thousands of people will soon be able to get directly referred and booked in for tests, checks, and scans by their GP for a range of conditions.
The new deal – which is called the ‘NHS and Independent Sector Partnership Agreement’ – will mean the NHS gets to make better use of the private sector to tackle waiting lists, as well as provide millions more appointments itself.
As the independent healthcare sector estimates it has capacity to provide an additional one million appointments for NHS patients per year, the new deal will help expand capacity and widen patient choice by setting out how more treatments can be delivered through the private sector, but with care still remaining free at the point of use.
🎯 Our Elective Reform Plan will cut waiting times from a maximum of 18 months to 18 weeks, helping patients get faster diagnosis and treatment.
This is part of our Plan for Change to rebuild the health system.
— Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) January 6, 2025
Under the upgraded services, millions of people will receive quicker diagnosis and treatment to deliver routine within 18 weeks.
Thousands more will receive a diagnosis and treatment date within a single day.
The agreement will also give patients in more deprived areas of the UK, where NHS provision is typically more limited, a greater choice in where they are treated, as currently less than a quarter of patients can remember being offered a choice of hospital for their treatment.
The Government says it wants all NHS patients to “have the opportunity to choose who cares for them”.
This agreement has been published alongside the Government and NHS’s Elective Reform Plan, which sets out a roadmap to meeting the 18-week standard.
Millions of people are set to receive faster diagnoses and treatment thanks to a major new NHS plan.
This ambitious blueprint will give patients more control of their own care.
The plan for patients will also ensure that people are as “fit and prepared as possible” for treatment while they wait for an operation, which the the Government and NHS claims will not only boost post-op outcomes and speed up recovery, but also reduce the number of on-the-day cancellations too.
Commenting on the deal, Secretary of State Wes Streeting said: “As patients, we’ve all experienced the hoops you have to jump through to get the test or scan you and your GP know you need. It’s a waste of patients’ time, delays diagnoses when every minute matters, and means consultants are forced to tick boxes rather than treat patients.
“The reforms we’re announcing will speed up diagnoses and free up NHS staff to treat more patients [and] our plan for change will cut waiting lists from a maximum of 18 months to 18 weeks.”
The Manc -
10th June 2022 
