The spokesperson told national media: “It is a very complex issue and there is a lot of work going on to get it right. There are a lot of different issues that need considering and we want to make sure it is right when we put it out. David Cameron and Jeremy Hunt have said they want it to be a game-changing moment.”
The strategy was originally expected in December, but increased calls for a sugar tax by government organisations and charities, delayed the publication until January, before further delays caused the publication to happen in February.
Ben Reynolds, deputy coordinator of Sustain, who run the Children’s Food Campaign and have championed a sugary drinks tax, said: “We have some sympathy with the Government who have clearly been overwhelmed by the scale of the task in coming up with a response to the childhood obesity crisis. They will have to hope that the generation of children who will be short served by this inaction will be as sympathetic.”
“Another view is that this is not a top priority for the Government, who it would appear don’t have the capacity, or the desire, to deal with more than one thing at a time. The evidence presented by all the Government’s health experts is clear on the need to act, what to act on, and the urgency of acting now. Action on restricting junk food advertising, promotions and sponsorship should not be delayed.”
“While his colleagues dawdle, we call on George Osborne to go some way to addressing this by introducing a sugary drinks tax in his next budget in March. In recent months the Welsh assembly and Northern Irish assembly have both passed motions in favour of a sugary drinks tax, with other countries including Ireland and South Africa now look set to introduce something similar. This makes the UK government look woefully out of touch with its commitment to deal with the problem of childhood obesity and diet related disease.”