The resurrected ban on junk food advertising is further proof of socialism’s desire to micro-manage the lives of everyone in Britain.
As Sir Keir Starmer prepares to put the whole nation on a diet, serious questions remain about how the scheme will work.
The Conservatives, who originated the proposals, ended up kicking them into the long grass for a range of reasons.
Fears of a ‘nanny state’ was one. Do we really want to be a country where Mr Kipling can no longer advertise cake at teatime and Harry Ramsden is barred from promoting fish-and-chip suppers?
As Sir Keir Starmer prepares to put the whole nation on a diet, serious questions remain about how the scheme will work
A person eating a Big Mac (stock image). It is right to tackle the obesity crisis, which is fuelling rampant diabetes and so many other diseases, but surely education and encouragement towards a balanced diet has more chance of success than this blunt-edged ban
Beyond that, the Government’s definition of junk food risks being as complicated as the nutrition details on packaging that no-one ever reads.
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Will McDonald’s be allowed to advertise its chicken and bacon salad (320 calories) but not its cheeseburger (294 calories)?
And will a Starbucks semi-skimmed hot chocolate, at 385 calories, also be taboo?
It is right to tackle the obesity crisis, which is fuelling rampant diabetes and so many other diseases, but surely education and encouragement towards a balanced diet has more chance of success than this blunt-edged ban.
Yesterday Sir Keir also vowed to take on unions who may oppose his ambition to revive the NHS.
The PM said there will be ‘no more money without reform’ which, presumably, means a line has been drawn beneath the sector’s recent generous pay settlements.
Lord Darzi’s report into the state of the NHS, published yesterday, made scant reference to the disastrous contracts handed to GPs by Tony Blair’s government in 2004 – and still widely in force – which allowed them to opt out of providing evening and weekend care
Naturally, Sir Keir preferred to blame the Tories for the health service’s dire state.He overlooked how the NHS’s gaping, insatiable budget soared from 32 per cent to 43 per cent of public service spending under the Conservatives.
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Lord Darzi’s report into the state of the NHS, published yesterday, made scant reference to the disastrous contracts handed to GPs by Tony Blair’s government in 2004 – and still widely in force – which allowed them to opt out of providing evening and weekend care.
As any ailing friend or relative will tell you, the near-impossibility of getting a GP appointment leads to symptoms being ignored and to swamped A&E departments.
There are encouraging elements in what we have heard from the Government so far. But they are only fuzzy ambitions with no hard proposals.
It is impossible to predict whether Sir Keir can succeed where so many others have failed.But now that he has stated his diagnosis he must begin the hard graft – and deliver the cure.
Reeves’ conundrum
Labour hoped the alleged ‘£22billion black hole’ in national finances would prove an impenetrable shield for its tax-raising plans.
But Rachel Reeves’ Treasury is refusing to explain how it calculated the figure.
Here is the Treasury’s starter for ten as it struggles with the abacus – the £9.4billion and rising that has been handed out in public sector pay rises.
Labour hoped the alleged ‘£22billion black hole’ in national finances would prove an impenetrable shield for its tax-raising plans. But Rachel Reeves’ Treasury is refusing to explain how it calculated the figure
Separately, the OBR – known for its gloomy outlook – has warned that Britain is heading for ‘unsustainable’ national debt over the next 50 years.
There are two key economic levers to avoid such a scenario – the first is more taxation, the second is greater economic growth.
Labour must avoid its natural tendency to tax its way out of a hole.
Instead, ministers must provide an environment which allows the private sector to do what the public sector cannot – take risks, innovate and turn a profit.
