Reform want to ‘save our pubs’ but will they address the smoking issue?

Yesterday evening I spotted a Facebook post by our old friend Nick Hogan.

Nick is the former pub landlord who was jailed after he allowed customers to smoke in his pub on the day the smoking ban was introduced in England (July 1, 2007) and failed to pay the subsequent fine.

After leaving the pub trade, Nick worked for a Conservative MP but he is now in the Reform camp and last night he posted a photo of the Palace of Westminster with the message:

In Westminster, ready for tomorrow's launch of Reform UK Save Our Pubs

As it happens it’s only a few weeks since I wrote about the Telegraph campaign to ‘Save Our Pubs’. Recalling the Save Our Pubs & Clubs campaign that was launched by Forest in 2009 with the specific aim of amending the smoking ban to allow designated smoking rooms, I wrote:

Speakers at the launch of the Save Our Pubs & Club campaign included TV chef and restaurateur Antony Worrall Thompson, and a certain Nigel Farage.

Nigel Farage speaking at the launch of the Save Our Pubs & Clubs campaign in 2009

Now, three weeks later, Reform – led by Nigel Farage – is launching its own campaign to save the pub, but don’t get too excited because, according to the Telegraph, the party’s five-point plan is aimed largely at cutting beer duty and abolishing business rates for pubs, so if you’re hoping for the party to say anything about smoking bans you’ll probably be disappointed.

I’m not naive so I understand why, politically, amending the original smoking ban won’t be high on Reform’s agenda, if it’s there at all. Nevertheless, as I also wrote last month, it annoys me that very few ‘save the pub’ campaigners ever mention the ban as a factor in the decline of the British pub in the 21st century.

Will Nigel Farage be any different? I suspect not but it would be encouraging if he at least affirmed Reform’s opposition to further restrictions on public smoking - especially in beer gardens and other licensed outdoor areas.

A surprise guest at the launch of the Save Our Pubs & Clubs campaign in 2009, the then Ukip leader said his party would support our campaign in any way it could. Let’s hope his current party makes a similar commitment to supporting a publican’s right to choose policies on smoking that best suit their business.

See: Save our pubs but don’t mention the war (on smoking)

Update: Reform launch plan to cut taxes to save our pubs and high street (Daily Mail)

Guests at the launch of the Save Our Pubs & Clubs campaign in 2009. You may recognise one or two faces.