According to the 37th edition of the Good Pub Guide, published today, the smoking ban has transformed Britain’s ‘grimy’ boozers.
Transformed? That’s one way of looking at it. In the ten years following the smoking ban 11,000 pubs - a fifth of the pub estate in England and Wales in 2007 - closed.
There were other factors but the smoking ban was right up there. We know this because research showed a significant spike in the number of pub closures in the year following the introduction of smoking bans in Ireland (2004), Scotland (2006) and England (2007).
Further research showed that the pubs hardest hit were in urban, inner city areas - the so-called ‘backstreet boozer’.
The problem was a lack of outdoor space where they could accommodate customers who wanted to smoke, so smokers went elsewhere or stopped going to pubs at all and the results can be seen all over the country.
That’s the reality, backed up by hard evidence. (See Road to Ruin: The impact of the smoking ban on pubs and personal choice.)
According to a report in the Guardian however the Good Pub Guide says the ban has been ‘transformational’, forcing pubs to become ‘cleaner, brighter places with better food and with greater appeal to women and families’.
Up to a point, perhaps, but several points need to be clarified.
One, “bars full of fug” were increasingly rare. Better ventilation and the installation of expensive air filtration units saw to that.
Two, many couldn’t install smoking shelters and outdoor heaters, for reasons already explained. Far from the “level playing field” demanded by the pub industry (which fought proposals to exempt private members’ clubs), pubs without an outdoor space were at a serious disadvantage.
As for the claim that the smoking ban ‘opened up a massive new customer base’, I’d love to see some numbers to support it. It may be true that gastro pubs (which are closer to restaurants) are doing well. Overall however the UK is still losing pubs at a rate of 14 a week.
Despite this, Fiona Stapley, editor of the Good Pub Guide, says:
“It is clear that this national institution has transformed itself from the 1970s, when pubs were smoky and grimy, the domain of beer-swilling men and only serving scampi and chips (if you were lucky), to the modern-day environment that is family and female friendly, serving excellent wines, craft gins and truly delicious home-cooked food.”
Six weeks ago the BBC broadcast a documentary, ‘How The Middle Class Ruined Britain’. Presented by comedian Geoff Norcott, it didn’t mention the smoking ban but it should have because it’s a classic example of the point he was making.
To be clear, I’m no class warrior. I’m as middle class as they come and, given a choice, I would prefer a chocolate box country pub over a backstreet bar any day.
Nevertheless the sneering middle class snobbery that oozes from the Good Pub Guide is both nauseating and far more offensive than any ‘grimy’ boozer.
PS. BBC Radio Wales is currently asking the question, ‘Has the smoking ban actually saved the pub?’
A researcher called to ask if I would take part in the morning phone-in. I said yes and explained my position.
Ninety minutes later, the phone-in almost finished, I’m still waiting for them to ring back.