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.
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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”.
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.
Barely a beat or two after having seemingly dropped out of the festival, Neil Young has now U-turned on Glastonbury 2025 and now looks set to be headlining it.
Thelegendary musician called out the world-renowned music festival for being under “corporate” control at the whim of the BBC (its official media and broadcasting partner for nearly 30 years) and said he would no longer be playing his slot.
Young went so far as to call it a “corporate turn-off”, claiming the event is “not how I remember it” in a message on his website.
However, just a few days after posting the news, it now appears as though the Canadian singer-songwriter will still be playing Glastonbury – and not just as one of the multiple legends lined up for 2025 either, but as a headliner.
As you can see in the update shared on Friday, 3 January, the 79-year-old now claims there was an “error” in the information he received regarding his performance at the festival.
Having now cleared up whatever confusion occurred, he and his band the Chrome Hearts will in fact be playing the festival as planned, reiterating his long-lasting love for the festival.
Quite a far cry from the sentiment he seemed to be getting across in his previous post, but make of that what you will.
Furthermore, chief organiser Emily Eavis – whose parents Michael and Jean Eavis set up the first ever Glastonbury music festival back in 1970 – not only hopped on social media to confirm that ‘Shakey’ will be performing but that he will be headline the main Pyramid Stage.
“Neil Young is an artist who’s very close to our hearts at Glastonbury”, she wrote, adding: “He does things his own way and that’s why we love him.”
So has he been given a slot upgrade of sorts or what? It still remains a little unclear.
At present, Rod Stewart is set to play the iconic and outright ‘Legends’ slot during Sunday teatime this June. We likely won’t hear much else about the rest of the lineup until sometime in spring.
This, of course, isn’t the first time Neil Young has done a 180 following a well-publicised decision in protest against a big media company.
The music veteran famously removed all of his discography from Spotify for two years before it eventually reappeared back in March 2024.
As for whatever happened between him and the festival or whether this was some gamesmanship from the influential music icon, at the end of the day, he’s heading to Worthy Farm after all.
The Met Office has slapped TWO Amber weather warnings across Greater Manchester with snow and ice forecast to be on the way.
The weather service said predicted that snow and freezing rain over the weekend are likely to lead to disruption, including possible power cuts, transport delays and road closures.
There is currently an Amber weather warning for snow covering an area from Newcastle all the way down to Greater Manchester.
And there’s a separate Amber warning for snow and ice which covers everywhere from Cardiff up to Greater Manchester.
It means that our city is currently under three separate weather warnings across the UK, according to the Met Office.
The warnings for snow and ice are in place from 6pm on Saturday until midday on Sunday, while the warning for just snow begins on Saturday at 9pm and doesn’t end until Sunday at midnight.
According to the Greater Manchester weather forecast, we are likely to see heavy snow showers overnight on Saturday and into Sunday morning.
Though in typical Manchester fashion, there’s then heavy rain forecast on Sunday afternoon which may melt any snow that does fall.
Amber severe weather warnings for snow and ice have been issued for parts of England and Wales this weekend with up to 30-40cm of snow possible in parts of Northern England.
The Met Office said: “Snow will become persistent and locally heavy as it pushes south to north across the warning area. As well as snow, a period of freezing rain is also likely bringing some hazardous travel conditions, before milder air follows across all areas by Sunday morning.
“Whilst there is some uncertainty in details, 3-7 cm of snow is likely for much of the warning area, with locally 15-30 cm for the higher ground of Wales and the southern Pennines. Freezing rain could lead to ice accretion in places, especially parts of Wales, before the milder air leads to a rapid thaw of snow and ice in the south of the warning area through Sunday.
“It is safer not to drive in these conditions, but if you need to make an essential journey, consider alternative forms of transport, to keep you and others safe. If you must drive, do this more safely by: using dipped headlights; accelerating gently, using low revs and changing to higher gears as quickly as possible; starting in second gear to help with wheel slip; maintaining a safe and steady speed, keeping distance from other vehicles; using a low gear to go downhill, avoiding braking unless necessary; steering into skids, not taking your hands of the wheel, and avoiding slamming on brakes.
“People cope better with power cuts when they have prepared for them in advance. It’s easy to do; consider gathering torches and batteries, a mobile phone power pack and other essential items.
“If isolated due to snow or ice, follow these simple steps to keep safe and well: keep the thermostat set to the same temperature both during the day and at night; turn off electrical heaters and put out your fire before going to bed; ensure pets are safe by keeping them warm and comfortable; prevent frozen pipes by opening kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors to allow warmer air to circulate around the plumbing; stay indoors, wrap up warm and close internal doors to keep the heat in; and, if you need support call the British Red Cross Support Line on 0808 196 3651.
“Help to protect vulnerable people that you know including older people, those with underlying conditions and those who live alone; they may need support with food and medical supplies. If you are worried about your health or that of somebody you know, ring NHS 111.”