CAMERON SAYS NO TO SUGAR TAX
DAVID Cameron has vetoed taxes on sugar without even reading an official report that backs the plan.
The report says a levy would tackle the obesity crisis by curbing demand for unhealthy food and drinks.
But the document has neither been published nor reviewed by the Prime Minister. And Government sources say he has ruled out a sugar tax as a ‘blunt weapon’ that would hit struggling families. Campaigners claim Mr Cameron has been ‘got at’ by food industry lobbyists.
Last night it emerged that he hosted Mars, Coca-Cola, Nestle and the major supermarkets in Downing Street last year.
Tam Fry of the National Obesity Forum said it was a ‘stitch-up’.
‘It is crazy to rule out a sugar tax without even looking at the evidence the Govern- ment has commissioned,’ he added. ‘You have to think he has been got at by an industry that doesn’t want him to tax their products. If he made up his mind without waiting for the evidence lobbying is involved.’
Jamie Oliver, who is campaigning for a tax on sugar, also accuses politicians of being in thrall to big business.
Writing exclusively in today’s Mail, the chef says the report was buried because of ‘pressures exerted by the powerful food and drinks lobby’. Ministers commissioned
Public Health England a year ago to report on options for reducing the nation’s sugar intake. Their work was completed this summer only for it to be shelved by ministers.
Details of the report’s contents emerged this week when Alison Tedstone of Public Health England told MPs it did back a sugar tax. She said her agency, which is part of the Department of Health, saw ‘a role for a fiscal approach’ in cutting consumption of sugary drinks.
Downing Street yesterday denied covering up the report. One insider revealed the study, which was delivered to the Department of Health earlier this month, has not even been sent to No 10 yet for consideration by Mr Cameron, who is chairing a committee drawing up an anti-obesity strategy. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is thought to have been open to having a public debate on the merits of a sugar tax.
Boris Johnson yesterday became the latest senior Tory to say the idea should be considered. The London Mayor said he was ‘thinking seriously’ about the issue, and could even introduce a pilot scheme in the capital. On Monday Jamie Oliver urged Mr Cameron to ‘be brave’ and introduce a tax to cut obesity.
But Government sources yesterday made it clear that Mr Cameron has already ruled out the idea. One source said: ‘We think there are more effective ways of dealing with this issue than hitting millions of families with higher taxes.’
Another source said: ‘We are not considering a sugar tax. The Prime Minister is very clear on this. Public Health England might be interested in the idea – although it is not at the top of their list – but they don’t have to consider the economic and political issues.’
Ministers will focus instead on persuading manufacturers to cut the sugar content of processed foods, improving education about nutrition and considering curbs on junk food advertising.
Sarah Wollaston, Tory chairman of the Commons health committee, yesterday said it was disgraceful that ministers had refused to release the report. ‘This is information we have all paid for,’ she said. ‘It is impartial – it has not been compiled by the industry or anyone with an axe to grind – and we should see it.’
Ministers deny a cover-up, and insiders last night suggested the report would now be released next month, earlier than expected. There appears to have been a change of heart following Dr Tedstone’s evidence to MPs this week.
Dr Tedstone, director of diet and obesity at Public Health England, said there was evidence that a new tax could help cut people’s consumption of sugary foods, adding: ‘The higher the tax increase, the greater the effect.’
Mr Cameron held talks with leading food industry representatives in Downing Street in September last year. Government records say only that the meeting was held to ‘discuss the food industry’. Last year a Mail investigation revealed how the food industry lobby has been given unprecedented access to government.
Fast food firms, supermarkets, restaurants and chocolate and fizzy drinks firms have had dozens of meetings with ministers. McDonald’s, Mars, Pepsi, Nando’s and Tesco were involved between 010 and 013.