Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to announce a 'Great British Summer Savings Scheme' that includes slashing the cost of biscuits and chocolate, alongside free bus travel for children in August. The move is expected to save consumers more than £150 million a year by suspending tariffs on certain food imports.
Supporters argue that cheaper biscuits and chocolate will help cash-strapped families. Victoria Richards, a single working parent, says the policy is realistic: 'Life is hard enough – I'm not going to spend it trying to force avocado down his throat.' She notes that many parents use a 'do what works' approach to feeding their children.
Critics, however, warn that cheaper junk food will worsen the UK's obesity crisis. Helen Coffey points out that one in four adults and one in five children aged 10-11 are living with obesity, a proportion that has nearly doubled since the early 1990s. Obesity is now a bigger cause of death in England and Scotland than smoking, and is the second biggest cause of cancer in the UK.
Coffey argues that the government should instead incentivise healthy eating: 'The last thing this country needs is access to cheaper junk food. What we desperately need is access to cheaper healthy food.' She adds that easing the cost of living crisis at the expense of health is too high a price to pay.
