Non-smokers are entitled to enjoy pubs without health risks - but many pub users are also smokers or vapers who enjoy the current arrangement of outdoor smoking/vaping.

An outright ban on smoking outside pubs won’t help public health - but it will hit our fragile rural pubs and rural economies hard just as they recover from the pandemic and Ukraine energy inflation spiral.

Banning people from being able to have a quiet fag in the pub garden whilst our streets are awash with the smell of cannabis and out of control drinking smacks of a disproportionate attack on the easy target of the law abiding rather than seriously tackling the epidemic of street drinking and drugs.

The government should focus more on education of the health risks and preventing children from starting smoking instead of bans which deny adults in pubs the freedom of a smoke with their drink. 

If the Government’s proposal of a blanket ban is adopted it will hit our rural pubs hard. If it’s a case of designating clear areas for smokers away from non-smokers I’m sure pubs can make it work.

I urge Ministers to listen to rural MPs and rural Pubs to avoid hitting already vulnerable businesses.

For more on my Supporting Our Pubs campaign click here