LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Thursday he supported the idea of banning smoking in some outdoor spaces, including pub gardens, as a way of reducing the pressure on the state-run National Health Service and the cost to taxpayers.
While precise details would be worked out later, Starmer said 80,000 people die each year from smoking and he wanted to reduce deaths from preventable diseases.
Asked if he supported a ban on smoking in some public places, including pub gardens, Starmer told Channel 4 News: “I want us to move to a smoke-free environment, want to reduce those preventable deaths. I want to reduce the burden on the NHS, desperately needed ... and obviously I want to reduce the burden on the taxpayer. So, yes, I am supportive.”
The government is considering a smoking ban in pub and restaurant gardens and terraces, outdoor sports stadiums, children’s parks and pavements near hospitals and universities, according to documents seen by The Sun newspaper.
Britain’s center-left Labour Party, which won a general election last month, said in its campaign manifesto it planned to introduce some of the world’s strictest anti-smoking rules by banning younger people from smoking.
The previous Conservative government had announced similar measures but the plan failed to become law before the election was called.
Britain banned smoking in almost all enclosed public spaces, including bars and workplaces, in 2007. Cancer Research UK said this led to an estimated 1.9 million fewer smokers, and research in the British Medical Journal estimated there were 1,200 fewer hospital admissions for heart attacks in the year following.
Britain’s hospitality industry warned a stricter smoking ban could force some businesses to close.
“A ban on smoking in outdoor spaces comes with the prospect of serious economic harm to hospitality venues,” said Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of trade body UKHospitality.
“This ban would not only affect pubs and nightclubs, but hotels, cafes and restaurants.”
About 6.4 million people in Britain were smokers in 2022, the Office for National Statistics has estimated, around 13 percent of the adult population.
That is much lower than other European countries such as Italy, Germany and France, where between 18 percent-23 percent of adults smoke, according to OECD figures.
The government estimates smoking costs Britain’s health services 17 billion pounds ($22.37 billion) a year and there is strong support for greater restrictions on smokers from medical and health care experts.
UK PM Starmer supports tougher outdoor smoking rules to ease pressure on health service
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UK PM Starmer supports tougher outdoor smoking rules to ease pressure on health service
- UK government is considering a smoking ban in pub and restaurant gardens, outdoor sports stadiums, children’s parks and pavements near hospitals and universities
Two high-speed trains derail in Spain, police sources say 21 people killed
- The accident happened near Adamuz, in Cordoba province. So far, 21 people have been confirmed dead by police
MADRID: A high-speed train derailed and smashed into another oncoming train in southern Spain on Sunday, pushing the second train off the tracks in a collision that police sources confirmed to Reuters had killed at least 21 people.
The accident happened near Adamuz, in Cordoba province. So far, 21 people have been confirmed dead by police, with state broadcaster Television Espanola adding that 100 people had been injured, 25 seriously. The driver of one of the trains, which was traveling from Madrid to Huelva, was among those who died, the TV station added.
“The Iryo 6189 Malaga — (to Madrid) train has derailed from the track at Adamuz, crashing onto the adjacent track. The (Madrid) to Huelva train which was traveling on the adjacent track has also derailed,” said Adif, which runs the rail network, in a social media post.
Adif said the accident happened at 6:40 p.m. (1740 GMT), about 10 minutes after the Iryo train left Cordoba heading toward Madrid.
Iryo is a private rail operator, majority-owned by Italian state-controlled railway group Ferrovie dello Stato. The train involved was a Freccia 1000 train which was traveling between Malaga and Madrid, a spokesperson for Ferrovie dello Stato said.
The company said in a statement that it deeply regretted what had happened and had activated all emergency protocols to work closely with the relevant authorities to manage the situation.
The second train was operated by Renfe, which also did not respond to a request for comment.
Adif has suspended all rail services between Madrid and Andalusia.
HORRIFIC SCENE
The Iryo train had more than 300 passengers on board, while the Renfe train had around 100.
Paco Carmona, Cordoba fire chief, told TVE the first train heading to Madrid from Malaga had been evacuated.
The other train’s carriages were badly damaged, he said, with twisted metal and seats. “There are still people trapped. We don’t know how many people have died and the operation is concentrating on getting people out of areas which are very narrow,” he said. “We have to remove the bodies to reach anyone who is still alive. It is proving to be a complicated task.”
Transport Minister Oscar Puente said he was following events from rail operator Adif’s headquarters in Madrid.
“The latest information is very serious,” he posted on X. “The impact was terrible, causing the first two carriages of the Renfe train to be thrown off the track. The number of victims cannot be confirmed at this time. The most important thing now is to help the victims.”
The mayor of Adamuz, Rafael Moreno, told El Pais newspaper that he had been among the first to arrive at the scene of the accident alongside the local police and saw what he believed to be a badly lacerated body several meters from the accident site.
“The scene is horrific,” he said. “I don’t think they were on the same track, but it’s not clear. Now the mayors and residents of the area are focused on helping the passengers.”
CALLS FOR MEDICS
Images on local television showed a reception center set up for passengers in the town of Adamuz, population 5,000, with locals coming and going with food and blankets amid nighttime temperatures of around 42 degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius).
A woman named Carmen posted on X that she had been on board the Iryo train to Madrid. “Ten minutes after departing (from Cordoba) the train started to shake a lot, and it derailed from coach 6 behind us. The lights went out.”
Footage posted by another Iryo train passenger, also on X, showed an Iryo staffer in a fluorescent jacket instructing passengers to remain in their seats in the darkened carriages, and those with first aid training to keep watch over fellow passengers. He also urged people to maintain mobile phone batteries to be able to use their torches when they disembarked.
Salvador Jimenez, a journalist for RTVE who was on board the Iryo train, shared images showing the nose of the rear carriage of the train lying on its side, with evacuated passengers sitting on the side of the carriage facing upwards.
Jimenez told TVE by phone from beside the stricken trains that passengers had used emergency hammers to smash the windows and climb out, and they had seen two people taken out of the overturned carriages on stretchers.
“There’s a certain uncertainty about when we’ll get to Madrid, where we’ll spend the night, we’ve had no message from the train company yet,” he said. “It’s very cold but here we are.”
