UKIP MEP and Aveley councillor, Tim Aker has told the party’s conference the ban on smoking in public places in England has "damaged more communities than the pit closures did".
At a fringe meeting, Mr Aker said the 2005 ban had upped levels of hidden drinking by forcing people "to retreat inwards" reports the BBC.
It was evidence of a "bankrupt" Labour telling people "what to do and think".
Mr Aker, said Labour had "ceased to exist" as a party of working people, choosing to "lecture rather than represent them".
Citing the smoking ban as an example of a policy that had hit C1 and C2 workers, he said: "They (Labour) say all the time, despite ignoring the facts, that it was the pit closures that destroyed all the communities.
"But I put it to you that the smoking ban has destroyed more communities than any any pit closure has done because when people don’t have a place to meet, a place to socialise, they retreat in.
