No 10 blocking outdoor smoking ban amid hospitality opposition

Exclusive: government ‘spooked’ by warnings of job losses and pub closures if it added ban to tobacco and vapes bill Downing Street is blocking moves to include a ban on smoking outdoors in the upcoming Tobacco and Vapes bill amid fierce opposition by the hospitality trade. No 10 officials privately believe that banning people from lighting up in pub gardens is “an unserious” policy and is not backed by good evidence showing that it harms non-smokers.