Prime minister Rishi Sunak is facing a Tory backbench backlash after Downing Street confirmed that it is pressing ahead with plans to ban ‘buy one get one free’ (BOGOF) supermarket deals despite its own predictions it will barely reduce calorie intake.
As the ban is set to come into effect from October, Sunak is now facing a backlash from its own backbench as the Department for Health and Social Care’s (DHSC) own research found the plans would cause a minimal reduction of daily calorie consumption, The Telegraph reported.
In 2020, a Department for Health impact assessment regarding the banning of buy one, get one free deals suggested adult men would only consumer 3.7 calories less than under current conditions.
MPs accused the government of peddling “nannying nonsense” and curbing individual freedoms at a time when hard-up families are struggling to put food on the table.
“Ending these deals will only mean the poorest people pay more for the same food – and nobody will get thinner,” reports quoted Tory MP Ben Bradley as saying. “Governments shouldn’t decide how supermarkets set their prices. So – let’s not!”
Fellow Conservative backbencher Greg Smith added, “What we eat should be a matter for individuals, taking personal responsibility. This sort of nannying nonsense should be rejected, especially when analysis shows the only impact it will have is on people’s pockets, not calorie intake.”
Conservative backbencher Philip Davies called the idea “utterly bonkers” policy devised by Boris Johnson and demanded it to be scrapped. He called it “one of the landmines he [Mr Johnson] left behind”.
Christopher Snowdon, of the Institute of Economic Affairs free market think-tank, said, “The Government’s own impact assessment predicts that banning these deals will reduce calorie consumption by the equivalent of one grape a day. Repealing this policy at a time when food inflation is nearly 20 per cent has to be the biggest no-brainer in British politics today.”
A spokesman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “As ever, with our approach to obesity, we know that it is a cumulative impact rather than just looking at a policy in isolation. We have taken a concerted approach to dealing with obesity, which costs the NHS billions of pounds a year, and we will continue to do so. It is important not to look at a single policy on this … There’s no plan to change our approach.”
