The government is expected to reject proposals to introduce a new salt and sugar tax in England. Ministers have been criticised after a new food strategy white paper was leaked ahead of its expected publication on Monday.
A review, led by Leon restaurant co-founder Henry Dimbleby, was launched in 2019 to look into England’s food system and ensure it is “safe, healthy and affordable” for all. But reports suggest key recommendations from the report are set to be ignored by ministers.
Mr Dimbleby has called for a sugar and salt reformulation tax as a key part of efforts to transform the nation’s diet to include less sugar, salt and meat. But the leaked document shows the government will not follow through on the proposal, according to reports in the The Guardian and Financial Times.
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The document states: “Government can set a clear direction for industry and ensure that consumers are empowered with information to make improved dietary choices. Government should also incentivise industry to reformulate and promote healthier food that is more accessible, and design and deliver policy actions that drive improvements across the food environment.”
Mr Dimbleby had said in the report that some of the money raised by the proposed tax should be spent on addressing the inequalities around food, such as by expanding free school meals, funding holiday activity and food clubs, and providing healthy food to low-income families. He also called on ministers to make sure the budget for payments for farmers to deliver environmental benefits, such as restoring nature, preventing floods and improving soils, was guaranteed until at least 2029 - which also appears to have been ignored.
The leaked document has been criticised by Labour, with shadow environment secretary Jim McMahon calling it “nothing more than a statement of vague intentions”. The Oldham MP said: “The UK is in a cost-of-living crisis with food prices spiralling, real-wages falling, growth plummeting and taxes up. It is clear now that the government has absolutely no ambition to fix the mess they have created."
He accused the government of 'dithering, delaying and failing to deliver' and said "concrete proposals" were needed to "tackle the major issues facing our country". He added: "To call it a ‘food strategy’ is bordering on the preposterous.”
The draft white paper, published in full by The Guardian, said the government accepted “much of the analysis” and “the majority of recommendations” from the Dimbleby review, with policy initiatives to boost health, sustainability, accessibility of diets and to secure food supply. It said the food strategy focused on “longer-term measures to support a resilient, healthier, and more sustainable food system that is accessible to all, rather than duplicating work on the cost of living”.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said it did not comment on leaked documents, but a spokesperson added: “We will be setting out the contents of our ambitious new food strategy in due course.”
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