MPs have been urged to vote for a total smoke ban or risk pubs up and down the country going out of business.
The message comes from an unprecedented alliance of the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) and the British Medical Association (BMA) which have come together to back a total ban on smoking.
The BMA's reasons are obvious but the BBPA is fighting equally hard for a complete ban to prevent customers deserting pubs in favour of private members' clubs where they could continue to light up.
BBPA chief executive Rob Hayward said: "If, as the Government says, this is a health issue, then you cannot pick and choose who should benefit from it - there has to be consistency. Exempting Britain's 20,000 members' clubs from a ban that affected all pubs would be grossly unfair on the pub trade and make no sense in terms of protecting people from second-hand smoke."
The House of Commons is expected to vote on a smoking ban in the middle of February and Labour MP Kevin Barron, chairman of the health select committee, is optimistic that a total ban will become law due to issues of enforcement.
He said: "A partial ban would prove difficult to enforce because people would not know where they can and can't smoke. I can't see how we can have consensus if we have this dog's dinner the Government has put before us."
But not everyone in the pub trade is willing to commit to a total ban. The Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) feels there is still time to argue for exemptions for pubs with smoking rooms and effective ventilation.
Chief executive Nick Bish said: "As an industry, we have been set against each other by the Government's unworkable options of exemptions for members' clubs and for pubs that don't serve anything more sophisticated than crisps.
"The real choice for Parliament should be between an outright ban for all, or for specific universal exemptions that are based on facilities - not on the kind of licence they hold nor the food they serve."