WES STREETING: ‘Sugary drinks tax is about serving to children lose kilos, not elevating pennies’
Health Secretary Wes Streeting says the odds against poorer kids are “brutal” – and the most common reason for primary-aged children to end up in hospital is to have rotting teeth removed
I know what it feels like to grow up with the odds stacked against you.
In the East End, in a single-parent household, we lived with bare floors, dodgy electrics and the odd cockroach. Times were tough. But we had a council flat. I had teachers who believed in me. We had family close by.
That support helped me beat the odds, all the way to the Cabinet table, where I now have the privilege of helping others do the same. And right now, those odds are brutal. Obesity in four and five-year-olds is at the highest level on record.
The most common reason primary-aged children end up in hospital is to have rotting teeth removed. The poorest kids are in the poorest health. They are growing up in damp homes, eating poor-quality food, pushed around temporary accommodation, unable to settle at school, and going to bed hungry.
READ MORE: Major tax changes expected on sugary drinks – as milkshakes and lattes targetedREAD MORE: Budget 2025 predictions as Rachel Reeves makes changes to tax, benefits and savings
What kind of start in life are we giving these children? And if we allow it to continue, what kind of future are we leaving them? Our children will live shorter, less healthy, less happy lives.
That’s why, today, I’m announcing the next step in our fight for children’s health: extending the soft drinks industry levy to sugary milkshakes, flavoured milks and milk substitutes.
This about helping kids lose pounds, not raising pennies.
The original levy worked. Sugar consumption from soft drinks has halved, and fewer kids are having teeth removed. It was one of the Conservatives only achievements.
It’s just a shame they are now more apologetic of their record on public health than they are about Liz Truss’ mini-Budget.
Labour’s commitment to improving children’s health is unwavering. This latest step will take around four million calories a day out of children’s diets and cut obesity by 14,000 cases a year.
This is just one step we’re taking to cut obesity and cut child poverty. Labour is feeding kids through breakfast clubs, expanding free school meals, banning junk-food ads, cracking down on youth vaping, and cleaning up the air our children breathe.
No child’s health should depend on their parents’ bank balance. Labour is changing the odds to give every child the best start in life.
