The government recently confirmed that it is looking into introducing tougher rules around smoking. The new rules would ban smoking in certain outdoor spaces in England to reduce the number of preventable deaths linked to tobacco.
There have been smoking bans in pubs in England, Wales and Northern Ireland since 2007 and in Scotland since 2006. Tony Blair’s Labor government implemented the original legislation for the plans back in 2005 to widespread criticism at the time.
The vote eventually passed and for the past 17 years, indoor, enclosed, public spaces have been smoke-free – apart from some specialist exceptions.
READ MORE: Smoking could be banned in beer gardens, outside clubs and in small parks
The Smokefree Action Coalition – a group of over 300 organizations across the UK committed to stopping smoking – said there was a 2.4% reduction in hospital admissions for heart attacks in England after the original indoor ban.
Smoking inside has become an image that now shocks many who see the sight. Below we have compiled a selection of images over the years that showed what smoking in pubs was like in the past and how ingrained it was in society’s norms.
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