Life sciences minister George Freeman has publicly supported a sugar tax, The Daily Telegraph and the Mail Online have reported. Mr Freeman is the first minister to back a sugar tax, which was ruled out last year by Jeremy Hunt the Health Secretary.
The Daily Telegraph reported Mr Freeman's comments, made to an audience at the Hay Festival "I don't think heavy-handed legislation is the way to go" he said "But I think that where there is a commercial product which confers costs on all of us as a society, as in sugar, and where we can clearly show that the use of that leads to huge pressures on social costs, then we could be looking at recouping some of that through taxation....Companies should know that if you insist on selling those products, we will tax them."
Mr Freeman's comments were welcomed by health campaigners. The Department of Health said there were no plans to introduce a sugar tax.
See Sustain's response and support Sustain's campaign to introduce a sugary drinks duty.
Published Friday 22 May 2015
Sustain: Sustain The alliance for better food and farming advocates food and agriculture policies and practices that enhance the health and welfare of people and animals, improve the working and living environment, enrich society and culture and promote equity.
