A green light to empty calories

I AGREE with Lord Bethell. The former Health Minister popped up on the Today programme yesterday to argue the unpopular view (ten points awarded for bravery) that the Government is wrong to row back on plans to ban BOGOFs on junk food as part of a package of ideas to tackle the cost-of-living crisis. In response to the usual onedimensional, ‘So are you saying poor people should starve?’ line of questioning, he firmly stuck to his guns. Truth is, cheap food doesn’t have to be unhealthy (just ask Bootstrap cook Jack Monroe). But also it’s a false economy, since any savings will ultimately be obliterated by the vast cost – personal and public – of the obesity crisis. If the Government really wants to help people struggling to put food on the table, it should incentivise supermarkets to offer discounts on healthy ingredients, not give the green light to more empty calories.