Boris Johnson is facing an angry backlash over his plan to freeze levies on unhealthy food and drink products pending a review into whether they are effective.
The Tory leadership frontrunner was condemned by health groups, doctors and MPs after announcing the proposal on so-called “sin taxes”. Tory MP Steve Brine, who was public health minister when the tax was introduced, said he “totally despair[ed]” and accused Mr Johnson of “transparent dog whistle politics dressed up as something thinking.”
The former foreign secretary hit back, claiming that extending the tax to milkshakes would be “paid disproportionately by poorer families”.
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It came as Penny Mordaunt, the defence secretary and equalities minister, put pressure on the Tory leadership candidates to agree to change abortion laws in Northern Ireland, saying the impact they were having on women in the region was “really shocking”.
In the Commons, Labour MP Pat McFadden asks Theresa May about Brexit Party MEPs turning their backs in the European Parliament chamber yesterday.
She refuses to condemn them, saying only that she wants to see the UK “continuing to be able to have a relationship with the EU”.
High Court judges explain why Boris Johnson won’t face court over “Brexit lies”
There was a lovely moment in the Commons just before this statement.
Labour MP Carolyn Harris, who lost a young child before becoming an MP, thanked everyone involved in the introduction of a fund to help bereaved parents with the costs of funerals.
Her voice broke as she thanked all those involved in helping her campaign and said the fund would be “a legacy for my son and will be a comfort for every parent that will need to use it in the future”.
She sat down to a huge round of applause from across the Commons.
John Bercow then praised “the sheer passion, the sincerity, the integrity with which she has behaved”, while Theresa May said “there are many families who will benefit from the passion, commitment and determination that she has shown in championing this issue”.
Theresa May is now updating MPs on this week’s European Council summit – her last as prime minister – and the G20 meeting in Osaka last week.
She says she used the G20 summit to lobby other world leaders to “act now” on climate change.
Leaders also discussed tackling extremism and boosting cooperation to prevent terrorism, she says.
A bit more from Boris Johnson, who has been speaking during a campaign visit in Berkshire.
He claims that the likely next president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, supported a “mission of federalist integration” and that Brussels leaders understood that it was time for Brexit.
Echoing the language of Donald Trump, he added: “I think we are going to get a great, great deal.”
He said:
“I have met Ursula, the new commission president, a couple of times and I very much look forward to working with her if I am lucky enough to get elected but I have no doubt that all our European friends and partners now have a powerful incentive to get this thing over the line.
“They have got a radical change in the complexion of the European Parliament, 29 Brexit MEPs not exactly showing a great fervour for the mission of federalist integration that Ursula supports, it is time that the UK came out, I think they understand that, I think we are going to get a great, great deal, and we will work very, very hard with all of them.”
Away from the Commons, Boris Johnson has defended his policy on “sin taxes”.
Speaking during a campaign visit in Berkshire, he said:
“Obesity is a huge public health challenge, probably now our number one public health challenge. It costs the NHS absolutely billions, we have got to deal with obesity but we have got to do it in a way that is evidence based and what I want to see is evidence, actually evidence that new taxes on this or that item of food, taxes which fall disproportionately on poorer families, actually stop people from being so fat.
“You have got to make sure that it is discouraging people from consuming what they are doing, or whether it is just a bit of a gesture.
“Now everybody struggles with their weight, me no less than anybody else, we all know what the issues are but my question is, is it really sensible to put a new tax on milkshakes which will be paid disproportionately by poorer families when the evidence seems to be at the moment ambiguous about whether those taxes actually reduce consumption and help people with their obesity, so that is the issue.”
Former Commons leader (and Tory leadership candidate) Andrea Leadsom asks Theresa May about early-years care. She asks what progress has been made in this area.
May thanks Leadsom for her work on early years, saying it is a cause she has championed for some time, and promises that the government will continue to work to improve early years care.
Jeremy Corbyn hits back, saying Labour tabled a motion to take no-deal off the table.
Theresa May repeats her point that by voting against the deal, Labour effectively voted for no-deal.
Corbyn says this government is “an irrelevance” and condemns the comments that the two Tory leadership candidates have made about no deal. The best option now is to “go back to the people” and let them decide, he says.
May says many in the shadow cabinet do not support Brexit and claims Labour wants to stop the UK leaving the EU.
Paraphrasing Labour’s slogan, she says this would be “a betrayal of the many by the few”.
Theresa May claims Labour saying it opposes no-deal but voting against the Brexit deal is “absolutely typical of [Mr Corbyn] – all mouth and trousers”.
Jeremy Corbyn highlights the threats to business of a no-deal Brexit. What would May says to workers who could lose their jobs, he asks? Will she remind the candidates to succeed her that thousands of jobs are at risk?
May says”
“I and the vast majority of Conservative members in this House voted to protect their jobs – the Labour Party whipped three times against the deal.”
Jeremy Corbyn asks Theresa May if Philip Hammond, the chancellor, was right that a no-deal Brexit could damage the UK economy by up to £90bn.
She says the figure was publicly available and included in the government’s economic analysis. But it was Labour that voted against a Brexit deal, she says.
Prime Minister’s Questions has just started in the House of Commons. Jeremy Corbyn will be up any minute…
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, has refused to criticise Boris Johnson’s pledge to freeze the sugar tax.
Mr Hancock has previously said the tax should be extended, but appeared to shift his position so as to avoid criticising Mr Johnson, who he is supporting in the Tory leadership race.
He told Sky News:
“I strongly support having an evidence-based review into how these taxes are working.
“Of course there’s the tax, but there’s more ways we can make sure that we tackle obesity.
“And Boris himself is a great example of how we can all get fit and svelte without the need of the nanny state by getting on and doing more exercise and cycling to work.
“It’s a very good example.”
Another Tory MP joins the backlash against Boris Johnson’s opposition to the sugar tax and other levies on unhealthy foods:
Yet more criticism of Boris Johnson‘s plan to freeze “sin taxes” – this time from public health organisations.
Shirley Cramer, chief executive of the Royal Society for Public Health, says her organisation is “seriously disappointed” by the pledge.
She says:
“One of the successes of the last Conservative government was the introduction of the sugar levy for soft drinks. The evidence shows that the sugar levy has worked.
“We should be building on the success of the sugar levy, not turning back the clock on the progress that has been made so far.”
Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said of so-called “sin taxes”:
“They have been highly effective in bringing down smoking rates to record lows, including within deprived communities.
“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.”
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This is interesting. Former Conservative MP Nick Boles, who now sits as an independent, is suggesting that many of the policies being promised by Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt would never be approved by parliament…
Canada is refusing to extend its trade deal with the EU to the UK if there is no Brexit agreement, according to reports.
The Canadian government is reportedly refusing to roll over the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) deal it has with the EU if the British government opts for a no-deal Brexit.
A spokesperson for Canada’s global affairs department told BuzzFeed News
“In case of a no-deal Brexit, Canada and the UK had been discussing a transitional agreement based on CETA while recognising the UK’s lack of jurisdiction to negotiate a free trade agreement as long as it remains an EU member state.
“In the event that the UK leaves the EU without an agreement, it has proposed to provide all WTO partners, including Canada, with duty-free access for 95% of tariff lines.
“Post-Brexit, any future trade arrangement between Canada and the UK would be influenced by the terms of the withdrawal agreed between the UK and the EU, as well as any unilateral UK approaches.”
Boris Johnson has been referred to the data watchdog over claims his campaign emails are “not kosher”.
Harriet Baldwin, a Foreign Office minister, who is supporting Jeremy Hunt in the leadership race, told Sky News that her email address was “dug out of a very old email list” by the Johnson campaign. She suggested this could be a breach of GDPR laws.
She said:
“It struck me as being really off. It’s obviously just some spam from some old database.
“Just proactively emailing in that way is not kosher these days.”
More criticism of Boris Johnson‘s policy on “sin taxes”, this time from Jon Ashworth, Labour’s shadow health secretary. He says:
“This is extraordinary even by Boris Johnson’s standards. On the same day that Cancer Research UK is warning of the rising cancer threat of obesity, and with his own cheerleader Matt Hancock supporting a plan to strengthen the obesity strategy, Johnson wants to water down the plan to tackle it.
“He has serious questions to answer about the role of corporate lobbyists for the soft drinks and tobacco industries in his campaign.
“Boris Johnson has shown that his priority is representing the interests of his wealthy supporters, with no concern for the health and wellbeing of the general public.”
Full story: Westminster will act to overturn ‘appalling’ Northern Ireland abortion ban if human rights breached, says Penny Mordaunt
