Labour has said it will support Tory plans to row back on the HFSS promotions clampdown, in a move seen as a huge victory for suppliers but branded a “terrible mistake” by health campaigners.
Speaking at the Labour conference yesterday, shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said it would be “tin-eared” of Labour to support measures that would put up food prices in the middle of the cost of living crisis.
Labour’s position comes amid growing speculation the government will announce as early as tomorrow it is ditching plans for a ban on multibuy promotions, already delayed by a year, as well as proposals for a ban on pre-watershed junk food ads.
It follows the launch of a Treasury review under new PM Liz Truss, which could also see the Conservatives axe its soft drinks sugar levy, which came into force in 2018.
Streeting told an Institute for Government fringe event at the conference in Liverpool: “I don’t think it would be tin-eared in the middle of a cost of living crisis to go harder on food regulations and on deals for families. But that’s why I want to work in a constructive way with food and drink companies to see what proactively they can do.”
He said Labour, which has previously been far more supportive of more draconian measures on health, wanted to pursue a policy of “constructive dialogue” with the industry, though he told the event: “I don’t want to see the government abandon the sugar tax”, adding it had been an “effective measure”.
Labour’s stance also adds to huge doubts about what will happen to the ban on location promotions of HFSS products due to come into force in just four days’ time.
It is understood statutory instruments may be passed in the next 24 hours, which would either delay or scrap all or some of the proposed measures, despite retailers having spent millions preparing for the changes.
Malcolm Clark, policy manager at Cancer Research UK and a Labour councillor, said the party’s repositioning risked leaving the door open for the government to scrap the sugar tax along with HFSS promotions and advertising, which he said was a major contributor to the obesity crisis.
“It’s a shame Wes Streeting doesn’t heed MoneySavingExpert’s advice on how promotions can be a menace,” he said.
“Major retailers like Sainsbury’s and Tesco recognise multibuys are poor value for consumers and the government’s own evidence shows it makes us spend and consume more than intended, rather than save us money.”
Supplier sources, meanwhile, are hoping Labour’s lack of criticism of the proposed HFSS u-turn will increase the chances of a widespread “bonfire” of red tape.
“We think the government has still got time to stop the entire HFSS clampdown, including location promotions,” said a source.
“We’ve never liked it. We’ve never thought it was the right thing to do.”
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