Welcome to Starmer’s United Kingdom - welcome to the Nanny State. In a land where social media posts can see you receive years in jail, anything is possible. Well, except smoking. The omniscient, omnipotent, virtuous Labour government has unveiled yet another new popular policy that is supposedly going to “fix the foundations” of our country. That’s right, according to Labour it is smokers who are a blight on our society and importantly the ever-deified NHS. Starmer has launched fresh proposals that would see smoking banned in various outdoor areas, including outside football stadiums, restaurants, and beer gardens. For Sir Keir, this seeks to reduce an “avoidable” burden on the NHS.
This is exceptionally misinformed, even by Labour’s standards. Present data on public revenue shows the government earns approximately £10 billion in tobacco duties. The cost to the NHS? £2.5 billion. The government earns a multi billion pound profit off of smokers - why would any pragmatic politician seek to do away with such a reliable source of income? Not only is this an infringement on civil liberties, it makes no economic sense. So what if people wish to smoke? It should be a personal choice. It is already a habit taxed to the hilt; adding draconian measures on where you dare light up further compounds the government’s persecution of smokers.
Interestingly, the burden on the NHS is higher for alcohol-related harm costs, totalling around £3.5 billion per year. Whilst the government earns a cool £12 billion from alcohol duties, I’m struck by the silence on its burden on the NHS. If this was really about reducing avoidable burdens on the NHS, where is the drinking ban? Not that I would advocate for this at all - the hospitality and drinking sector is going to require all the help it can get if these plans go through.
In 2007 Labour, under a much different virtue-signalling zealot, prohibited smoking in all enclosed public spaces. Admittedly, this was a good call but do not underestimate the impact on the industry. In the following years, approximately 7,000 pubs closed, attributing their demise, in part, to a loss of regular smoking customers. One can only imagine the impact on pubs and bars if even the beer garden is off limits for a cigarette.
With pints already overpriced, the government seems content on giving would-be punters more and more reason to drink with their friends at home, jeopardising the already-threatened British institution that is the pub.
What strikes me the most, however, is the unbalanced direction of this regulatory zeal. Where is the nanny state on obesity? The cost of obesity to the NHS is estimated at £6 billion a year, with the sugar levy only netting a relatively insignificant £355 million a year. Where are the calls to shut down McDonalds? Where is the persecution against those who gorge to their heart's content, immobilising themselves to the point of disability, unemployment, and dependency on the welfare state, becoming a constant burden on the government, and the NHS, until their final days? As much as I vehemently oppose this nanny-state virtuousness, at least manifest it fairly.
These puritanical measures are more about exerting control than addressing real issues. It's the type of insufferable wokery that hides with futility behind a transparent facade of righteousness and morality. These are ill thought-out, economically damaging, and individually restricting measures that can only be described as nanny-state incarnate. This is an unnecessary proposal to infringe on personal liberties. Haven’t people got it tough enough as it is?
Starmer’s proposed smoking ban is a diversion away from the more pressing issues facing the NHS. Starmer should be tackling chronic underfunding, not targeting what is one of the NHS’s most profitable sources of revenue. Starmer should be approaching the issue of perpetual middle-management, a hallmark of Blair’s legacy, that continuously vacuums out thousands of serious salaries to, for all intents and purposes, glorified middlemen who facilitate nothing. This is emblematic of a broader trend towards overregulation under the guise of public health. It risks eroding future individual freedoms and simple traditional social practices, such as having a drink and a smoke at the pub.
If Starmer has it his way, gone will be the days of going to the boozer, having a few pints with your friends, nipping outside for a cigarette, followed by a greasy breakfast the morning after, all because you dared be selfish enough to burden the deified NHS. Of course it’s your fault, it can’t possibly be Labour’s. Now the Tories are out of office to foot the blame for the NHS’s dire state, Labour are coming after you.
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