It was supposed to be the broadest shoulders who were going to fund the government’s overspending. Now it seems to be the broadest bellies, too. The government is to extend George Osborne’s sugar tax to milkshakes and other milk-based drinks. It is also to consult on lowering the threshold at which the sugar tax becomes due on drinks from 5 grams per 100 ml to 4 grams. That will see hundreds of products become liable for the levy – many of whose recipes had already been changed to avoid the sugar tax. A lower threshold of 4 grammes would add an average of 18 pence to the price of a litre of soft drink.
What taxes on food do is to impose regressive levies on the poor
It says much that the initiative to increase the sugar tax seems to have come from the Treasury. Health secretary Wes Streeting, on the other hand, said last year that he did not wish to increase taxes on food during a cost of living crisis.
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