Johnson to review 'sin taxes' as he declares war on the 'nanny state'
Health campaigners say increasing taxes on tobacco and alcohol saves lives, but Mr Johnson says they hit the poor hardest.
Wednesday 3 July 2019 11:03, UK
Boris Johnson is declaring war on the "nanny state" by pledging to halt "the explosion of sin taxes" on salty, sugary and fatty foods.
He is pledging to launch a review of these taxes to assess whether they work or "clobber" the poor.
His promise is almost certain to be opposed by his Tory leadership rival Jeremy Hunt, who was health secretary for a record six years and introduced the sugar tax.
The leadership front runner is also heading for a new clash with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, who is leading demands for a "milkshake tax" - which Mr Johnson is vowing to block.
Mr Johnson provoked a storm at the 2006 Tory conference when he hit out at Mr Oliver's campaign to ban junk food - including turkey twizzlers - from school meals.
Attacking Mr Oliver's school dinners campaign at a fringe meeting, Mr Johnson declared: "If I was in charge I would get rid of Jamie Oliver and tell people to eat what they like."
Now odds-on favourite to become prime minister in three weeks' time, Mr Johnson says he will launch a review of the effectiveness of "sin taxes" and whether they unfairly hit those on low incomes.
He is also committing himself not to introduce any new sin taxes, such as Mr Oliver's milkshake tax, until the review has been completed and is claiming Brexit is an opportunity to examine tax policy.
Besides heading for a clash with Mr Oliver, Mr Johnson's plan also appears to contradict the health and anti-obesity drive of his close leadership ally, the Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
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Announcing his food tax move, Mr Johnson said: "The recent proposal for a tax on milkshakes seems to me to clobber those who can least afford it.
"If we want people to lose weight and live healthier lifestyles, we should encourage people to walk, cycle and generally do more exercise.
"Rather than just taxing people more, we should look at how effective the so-called 'sin taxes' really are, and if they actually change behaviour.
"Once we leave the EU on 31 October, we will have a historic opportunity to change the way politics is done in this country.
"A good way to start would be basing tax policy on clear evidence."
Strongly backing Mr Johnson, Daniel Pryor of the right-wing Adam Smith Institute told Sky News: "The nanny state has gone into overdrive. Boris Johnson in standing up for liberalism and individual responsibility."
Mr Johnson's controversial intervention comes as England's chief medical officer considers taxing all unhealthy foods to tackle childhood obesity by discouraging parents from buying them.
Professor Dame Sally Davies has said she wishes to incentivise healthy food sales, potentially subsidising them by charging more on unhealthy products.
A report by Dame Sally, due in September, was commissioned Mr Johnson's former leadership rival Mr Hancock, who is now a leading Johnson backer.
The sugar tax on soft drinks was introduced in April last year and has been welcomed by medical bodies including the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.
Criticising Mr Johnson, the chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, Deborah Arnott, told Sky News: "Smoking kills more than 100,000 people in Britain each year.
"And the evidence from other countries is clear, when taxes stop going up, smoking rates are likely to stop going down," she said.
"Making tobacco less affordable via taxation is considered to be the most effective means of discouraging young people from starting to smoke and helping adult smokers to quit.
"That's why this government and its predecessors have implemented an escalator for tobacco taxes which increases prices above inflation at every Budget.
"To move away from that policy now would be a grave error."
Cancer Research UK's chief executive, Michelle Mitchell, stressed the significance of "sin taxes" and praised their success in lowering smoking rates and removing sugar from diets.
"Taxes on less healthy products do have a positive effect," she said.
"They have been highly effective in bringing down smoking rates to record lows, including within deprived communities, and the treasury's own analysis showed the tax on sugary drinks took 90 million kg of sugar out of the nation's diet on day one.
"Physical activity is one way to lose weight but the government also has a big role to play if we are to significantly reduce obesity levels."
But welcoming Mr Johnson's pledge, the Institute of Economic Affairs' Christopher Snowdon, said: "A lot of tax cuts have been promised during the leadership campaign, not all of them sensible.
"The priority should be slashing the taxes which hit the poor hardest and punish people for their lifestyles.
"It is encouraging to see that Mr Johnson is against the milkshake tax and will launch a review of the former Chancellor's sugar tax.
"He should also look at cutting Britain's extortionate taxes on alcohol and tobacco. It's about time politicians started standing up to the killjoys.
But Mr Johnson insists he is fully committed to reducing smoking and the consumption of unhealthy food. He says it is important that policies for doing this are based on proven, effective methods.