The Outsiders

By Tom Geoghegan
BBC News Magazine

The ban on smoking in enclosed public places in England may have officially started early on Sunday morning, but its first test came a few hours later when the pubs opened for lunch. Time to meet that new social outcast.

Few places awaited England's smoking ban as warily as Islington in north London.

It's a borough with one of the highest smoking rates in the UK, 38%, but in the build-up to the ban, residents protested about the prospect of having smokers causing a nuisance when congregating outside pubs.

So unsurprisingly there was a simmering sense of persecution on Upper Street on Sunday, hours after the law officially changed.

LAST NIGHT OF SMOKING Saturday night at the pub, one last chance for a fag

Edward Morris, 27, having a fag outside the Steam Passage Tavern with his friend Zerrin Levy, said it felt like being pushed to the fringes of society.

"You feel like you're being punished for something that's not illegal. It's another thing that people can tut at you for."

The couple had initially sat down inside the pub, intent on having a smoke-free drink, but the smell of bleach was too much to bear, he said.

"We always stop off at this pub and it's usually quite smoky so it was quite odd today when we could smell cheap cleaning products."

Huddles

But at least they had each other's company as they struck a blow for rebels and outcasts.

In contrast Sean Judge, 47, cut a lone figure outside the York Tavern, as he waited for his friends. "When I first sat down I thought 'Is everyone looking at me? Are they noticing me?'"

Life on the outside

The sight of pub smokers on the street has become commonplace in the rest of the UK but not in England, although people can often be seen puffing outside smoke-free office blocks.

On Sunday there were no signs of the scenario some Islington residents had feared - smoky huddles on the streets - partly because the al fresco eating and drinking of summer meant the "outsiders" were easily absorbed.

But there was some pavement congestion outside The Angel, where the smokers weren't really sure where to put themselves.

Signs placed on the tables outside the pub said they were off-limits because they were still "enclosed" in the eyes of the law.

I support the ban, it's my choice I smoke Ron McCrudden Send us your comments See your photos

That left a narrow strip of about six feet of pavement within which to take a nicotine fix, while avoiding the throng of pedestrians. One smoker remarked that he felt like a "leper".

Jackie McInnes, 63, clinging to the railings which separated her from four lanes of traffic on the A1, betrayed a twinge of guilt when admitting she had left her non-smoking husband inside on his own.

"It's unsociable, I know. You go to the pub to be friendly and talk to people. I wouldn't like to be left sitting on my own."

Her companion Gareth Austin, 28, said he was really angry about the ban and feared that it would mean less time with his fiancee when they were out together.

United in adversity

"My partner feels very left out and it will put her off going to pubs because all our friends smoke and if there's a group of us out she will sit on her own."

Although it was Gareth and Jackie braving the showers and the A1, it was her husband who became the outsider once the others got up and left the table, taking the conversation with them.

But he didn't really care being on his own. On the contrary, as well as enjoying the clean air inside, he said he enjoyed the minutes to himself.

We all know the ban is a good thing but it's being told what to do that I object to Clare Holliman (left) in Covent Garden

United by adversity, some solitary smokers struck up conversation as they stood alongside each other. "It's more fun out here anyway," said one. In Ireland, using the exclusion to chat up a fellow smoker is known as "smirting".

The mood in other parts of London was less defiant, an indication that opponents and supporters of the law can be found in smoking and non-smoking camps.

Most people having a puff on the street were in full support of the new restrictions, which they thought would make it easier for them to quit.

"It's all down to choice and if you choose to smoke you have to come outside and that's that," said Simon Lyons, 38, at the Royal George, Euston.

It might be outside but not outside enough

"If I was able to smoke inside, I would have had 10 by now but I've only had two with two pints."

Skaiva Rynkeviciude, 23, hovering outside Liberties in Camden, had left her friend inside to pop out for a crafty fag. "I think the ban's a good thing. It's probably not that pleasant for him but he's coping."

And outside County Hotel near Tavistock Square, Ron McCrudden, 60, said he had no objections.

"It's my choice I smoke and I've always had a rule not to smoke in restaurants for the sake of other people, so it's fine. But sometimes you do feel like a bit of an outsider, with all the press stuff."