George Osborne calls for ban on smoking and taxes on orange juice to boost Brits’ health as he dismisses ‘nanny state’ objections
- The ex-Chancellor suggests new health measures to cut obesity and cancer
George Osborne has called for a ban on smoking and taxes on orange juice in a bid to boost Britons’ health.
The former Chancellor dismissed concerns about fresh ‘nanny state’ measures and claimed Tory critics of Government intervention were ‘not worth listening to’.
He compared new action to cut obesity and cancer to the smoking ban in pubs or the legal requirement to wear a seatbelt.
Mr Osborne said Britain should look at ‘the long-term legality of smoking’ and suggested it copy New Zealand in gradually raising the legal age for purchasing tobacco.
An annually rising legal smoking age would eventually introduce a complete ban on smoking.
George Osborne said Britain should look at ‘the long-term legality of smoking’ as part of new action to cut obesity and cancer
The former Chancellor suggested the UK should copy New Zealand in gradually raising the legal age for purchasing tobacco
Mr Osborne called for an expansion to the sugar tax to cover fruit juice and milkshakes, as well as biscuits and cakes
Mr Osborne told The Times: ‘You basically phase it out. Of course you’re going to have lots of problems with illegal smoking, but you have lots of problems with other illegal activities.
‘It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try and ban them and police them and make it less readily available. I thought that was a compelling public health intervention.’
In his final Budget as Chancellor in March 2016, Mr Osborne announced the introduction of the sugar tax on soft drinks.
He said it should now be expanded to cover fruit juice and milkshakes, as well as biscuits and cakes.
Mr Osborne admitted such a move would have been ‘too controversial’ while he was in charge of the Treasury because ‘most people think a glass of orange juice every day is a good thing’.
The sugar tax was fiercely opposed by some Tory MPs as an example of ‘nanny statism at its worst’.
But Mr Osborne insisted that ‘anti-nanny state Conservatives’ are ‘not worth listening to’.
He compared possible new health measures to the smoking ban in pubs and laws on wearing seatbelts introduced by past governments.
‘They’ve all been opposed at the time by vociferous lobbies,’ the former Chancellor added.
‘It’s taken quite a lot of political courage by the different administrations to get them done.
‘But no one now would reintroduce smoking in pubs and no one now would say you shouldn’t wear a seatbelt.’
Former minister Lord Bethell said he agreed with Mr Osborne that it was ‘time to phase out smoking in the UK’.
The Tory peer criticised the Government for not implementing the recommendations of an independent review by Dr Javed Khan.
His report warned, without further action, England will miss the Government’s smokefree 2030 target by at least seven years, and the poorest areas in society will not meet it until 2044.
‘What a shame the Govt hasn’t introduced the Khan Review recommendations,’ Lord Bethell posted on Twitter.
‘It should be doubling down instead of backing off.’
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