Rishi Sunak said he “delayed the introduction of this policy.” Credit: Jessica Taylor/AFP
Rishi Sunak has hinted that he may lift Boris Johnson's ban on buying one, get one free (bogof) junk food offering after backlash from Conservative MPs.
Prime Minister The minister said that the final decision on the policy that is set has not yet been made. will be presented in October, despite the fact that studies question its effectiveness.
The crackdown on multi-shop deals at supermarkets is part of an anti-obesity campaign launched by Mr Johnson in 2020 after he was hospitalized with Covid, but it was delayed last year due to a sharp rise in food prices nutrition.
While Downing Street on Monday insisted she would move forward with the proposals, Mr Sunak opened the door for a reversal when Philip Davies, the Conservative MP for Shipley, challenged prime minister.
Mr Davies said: “One of the socialist anti-personnel mines that the prime minister inherited from a former MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip… was the idiotic triumph of the nanny state forbidding buy one, getting one free and other specials on products that The Ministry of Health considers it unhealthy.
“In a cost-of-living crisis, this is downright insane. So can I ask the Prime Minister if he will intervene, pursue a more conservative agenda… and abandon this ridiculous policy?”
Mr. Sunak replied: “After I entered the position, given the concerns he and others have raised about the impact on the cost of living, we have already known to delay the introduction of this policy.
“No final decisions have been made, but I will continue to take this policy very seriously to what he says in all our discussions.”
When asked if this meant the policy could be scrapped, a spokesman for the prime minister told reporters that while future policies are under consideration, “there are no plans to change that.”
Analysis by the Ministry of Health and Social Security, which resurfaced this week, showed that a bogof ban would only have a minimal impact on calorie intake.
Children under 10 are predicted to consume only 2.5 fewer calories per day than if deals are canceled while men are predicted to consume 3.7 fewer calories and women 2.8 fewer calories.
Mr. Davis joins conservative supporters, including Ben Bradley, MP for Mansfield for Red Wall, and Greg Smith, MP for Buckingham, in a call to lift the bogof ban.
Disputing the impact of the policy, Mr Sunak's spokesman said on Monday the government's strategy to combat obesity will have “a cumulative impact, rather than just considering policy in isolation.”
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