These ideas have not been agreed by anyone at present. They could be part of our contribution to the development of Labour Public Health Policy. For that purpose they need to be very concise.
- The supply of tobacco products to anyone born after 1.1.2000 is made an offence under the Misuse of Drugs Act
- Remove the exemption from VAT from refined sugar on the basis that it has no nutritional value.
- Put health warnings on any product which contains more than 20% refined sugar. (Calculated without taking account of any water, so sugary drinks would count.)
- Ban the use of trans fats in food products (as has been done in Denmark) – and push for the ban to be extended throughout the EU.
- Anyone selling more than a lethal dose of alcohol to a customer must notify the NHS of the sale and the customer’s name and address. The idea is to make selling alcohol a bureaucratic chore, so retailers could be required to weigh customers in order to calculate their lethal dose.
- Remove VAT from bicycles and bicycle related equipment.
- Require every responsible local authority to publish expenditure on transport measures divided between walking, cycling, public transport and motor vehicles.
- Extend the Active Travel (Wales) Act to England.
- Require every company to publish a table showing the pay of all employees broken down by hourly rates.
- Ensure that all public employers (and their contractors) pay at least the living wage.