But it didn't happen did it? The pubs were mostly converted to open plan, with perhaps one part of the open area being called "non smoking", which didn't do anything to stop them getting smoked up.

Basically people who don't like the idea of having to pop outside if they want to smoke should be blaming the landlords and the pub owners for failing to ensure that there were proper smoke free areas, not the non-smoking majority who have been denied smoke free areas all these years.