A LABOUR rebellion over plans for an outdoor smoking ban has now started to emerge.
One of Sir Keir Starmer’s own MPs has launched a Commons bid to block the cigs clampdown that would outlaw lighting up in pub gardens.
Sir Keir Starmer is facing a backlash from his own MPs on the plan[/caption]
It follows a tidal wave of anger from boozer bosses and punters since The Sun first revealed the proposals last month.
Mary Glindon, the Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend, has tabled an early day motion in Parliament voicing opposition against her own government.
In it she praises the 2007 indoor smoking ban, but warns that extending it to a raft of outdoor areas “will unduly restrict individual liberty where second-hand smoking dangers are negligible”.
Ms Glindon – who until the election served on Sir Keir’s front bench as a whip – also warned an beer garden fags ban would “drive some and maybe many pubs out of business and undermine the night-time economy”.
She is demanding the government axes its plans, or at the very least allow MPs a “free vote” without fear of consequences from Labour enforcers.
Leaked documents seen by The Sun exposed the PM’s bid to ban smoking from pub gardens and restaurant terraces, as well as in crowded places like outside football stadiums.
Analysis has shown three pubs a week could be forced to close if beer gardens were stung.
But Sir Keir has insisted a crackdown is needed to stop more people dying of smoking-related illness, as part of wider plans for “preventative” measures.
It also includes a ban on junk food adverts before 9pm on TV, and a “total” blackout online.
But it has sparked claims Labour is ushering in an era of nanny-statism with excessive overreach on people’s lives.
Head of Lifestyle Economics at the Institute for Economic Affairs Dr Christopher Snowdon said: “Mr Starmer’s promise to tread more lightly on our lives could go down as one of the great pre-election fibs in history.
“It is extraordinary that he is picking fights with his own party over smoking outdoors so soon after being elected. The terrifying thing is that might genuinely believe in this stuff.”
The PM said last month: “My starting point on this is to remind everybody that over 80,000 people lose their lives every year because of smoking.
“Yes, we are going to take decisions in this space, more details will be revealed, but this is a preventable series of deaths and we’ve got to take action to reduce the burden on the NHS and the taxpayer.”
