YouGov Assesses Support for Bans
Survey company YouGov has looked at whether Britons would support an outdoor smoking ban and how this breaks down by party they’d vote for
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by Dave Cross
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The government is dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s on the new Tobacco and Vapes Bill which will likely see them introducing a ban on smoking (and possibly vaping) in outdoor public areas, including in pub beer gardens, outside hospital entrances, on the streets by the doors of nightclubs, and in and around sports grounds. Survey company YouGov has looked at whether Britons would support an outdoor smoking ban and how this breaks down by party they’d vote for.
YouGov says: “Labour’s proposals have received support from public health experts, while drawing concerns from those in the hospitality industry, particularly publicans who believe they would noticeably suffer. But what do the British public think about the proposals?
“In general, the public tend to support a ban on smoking in outdoor public areas, but they also make distinctions between where the ban applies.
“Banning smoking outside hospitals, for instance, would be supported by three-quarters of Britons (76%), including being strongly supported by six in ten (58%), while facing opposition from only one-fifth of the public (21%). Stopping smoking in sports grounds holds a similar level of endorsement, supported by seven in ten Britons (72%) and opposed by 22%.
“A ban on smoking in pub gardens, though, is more divisive. For the half of Britons (51%) who say they would support such a ban, there are 43% of the public who are opposed to such a restriction.
“Of course, support for these bans are not uniform across the public; some groups are more in favour, while others – particularly Reform UK voters and, unsurprisingly, smokers – are less supportive.
“Nonetheless, in some cases, it’s largely just strength of support that differs. Smoking outside hospitals holds clear support among almost all groups of the public – including eight in ten Labour and Lib Dem voters (80-82%), three-quarters of Conservatives (74%) and two-thirds of Reform UK voters (64%). Even among smokers themselves, there is a near-even split between the 47% who favour such a ban and the 49% who are opposed.
“It is with pubs where the divide is more meaningful. While a clear majority of non-smokers (57%) favour a ban on smoking in pub gardens, only one in ten smokers (10%) agree. And different voting groups come down on different sides of the divide. More than half of Conservative (54%), Labour (62%) and Lib Dem (61%) voters would support pub gardens going smoke free, but only three in ten (30%) Reform UK voters feel the same, with two-thirds (68%) opposed to the idea.”
Letter pages, phone-in radio shows, and online forums are already beginning to be populated by individuals demanding that vaping is banned in public spaces. In a recent article, we detailed how the government intends to extend smoking bans to vaping in future if it doesn’t do it now. It might be time to sign up for free with the New Nicotine Alliance to support them in opposing restrictions on where and when you can vape.
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
