|
|
 |
| |
Cafés facing closure over smoking ban
Calls for shisha to be exempt
DOZENS of cafes and bars in Queensway, Marylebone and the Edgware Road will close if the shisha is outlawed under the smoking ban.
Arab owners of shisha lounges say the popular water pipe used to smoke fruit flavoured tobacco should not be banned in public places from July.
They say it is an important cultural experience that was made exempt when the New York smoking ban came into effect in 2003.
Youssef Benfadel, who owns Mamounia Lounge in Queensway, said dozens would lose their jobs.
He said: “We look at it as a cultural thing. Our customers are not the sort of people who go clubbing. They don’t drink alcohol. They like to come and have a mint tea, socialise and smoke from the water pipe. I really believe that if no food is being sold then it should not be banned.
“It will not only be a big loss for the Arab community but also for tourists. Many of my customers say they will not come if there is no shisha.”
He added: “There are 15 people working in most shisha lounges and there are 25 in this area alone. It is terrible to think how many jobs will be lost.”
The Middle Eastern-style cafés and lounges – once limited to a handful of expat-Arab coffee shops in the Edgware Road – have multiplied across central London.
London Assembly Member Murad Qureshi, who is calling for the council not to enforce the ban, said he enjoyed a night out on the shisha more than the hurly-burly of the West End.
He said: “I think it’s too late for the legislation to be changed. We should be looking at the New York. They brought in a smoking ban in 2003 that was much stricter and yet the shisha cafes are exempt because they are interpreted as a retail tobacco outlet.” |
 |
| |
|
|
|
