ITV News reports:
Action on Smoking and Health Wales (ASH Wales) - a campaign group working for a smoke-free Wales - is calling on the Welsh Government to 'protect children's health'.
It wants legislation that came into force in March banning smoking in the grounds of schools, hospitals and in playgrounds to be extended to the outdoor seating areas of pubs, bars and restaurants.
The proposal has been backed by Children’s Commissioner for Wales Sally Holland.
We spotted the report online shortly before 5.00pm and managed to get ITV News to add a short quote from Forest.
See: Campaigners call for smoking ban in Welsh beer gardens
You can read our full response here: Call to ban smoking in beer gardens "monumentally stupid".
Interesting, isn't it, that one week anti-smoking campaigners are saying they 'only' want a ban on smoking in new pavement areas outside pubs and bars and the next they're calling for a ban on smoking in beer gardens and other outdoor seating areas.
What I don't get is why the presence of children should be allowed to dictate how pubs are operated. A better solution, surely, is to give proprietors the option to ban children from licensed premises, as in the 'old' days.
When I was a teenager growing up in Scotland not only were children not allowed in pubs (officially at least), every pub had frosted glass to prevent them witnessing the depravity that was taking place within.
Nor were customers allowed to take alcoholic drinks outside in case 'minors' saw them knocking back their pints and spirits or getting riotously drunk.
As a result I don't think there were beer gardens in Scotland at the time but even in the height of summer it was rarely warm enough to sit outside in the evening so it wasn't an issue.
The point is, as far as pubs go, there was a clear demarcation between adults and children that has been lost in the intervening years as the licensing laws were gradually 'liberalised'.
Unfortunately it's gone too far and what were once places of adult entertainment have become increasingly child friendly at the expense of adults who once upon a time would go to the pub to get away from the blighters!
I'm not suggesting a return to the old-fashioned male-dominated pubs of old, but what's wrong with 'adults only' bars where people can smoke and drink without fear of tripping over a toddler or, worse, a censorious, health conscious, goody two shoes?
Sounds good to me!
Update: Trade organisation UK Hospitality has also opposed the idea:
UK Hospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said it would be a "hugely disproportionate step" that would deter customers from businesses that are in a "very fragile state following months of closure" due to the pandemic.
Smoking: Should it be banned in Wales' beer gardens? (BBC News)
Campaigners want smoking to be banned in pub beer gardens (Wales Online)
Both reports note Forest's opposition.