Is this Government in any way Conservative? This "Conservative" Government never uses the tax system to incentivise - only to punish, and all we seem to hear from it are endless nanny state rules and regulations. The latest one last week was on the calorie count of pizzas - at least that's how it was headlined in the media. In reality it is about the calorie count in all sorts of food we eat, including at restaurants.
I don't know about you, but I don't go into a restaurant wanting to know how many calories I am about to eat. I'm not interested. I want good quality food at a reasonable price. It really has nothing to do with the Government what I eat and how many calories are in my food. But this is about to change.
The Telegraph reported that "under the draft proposals, a standard pizza for one should contain no more than 928 calories - far less than many sold by takeaways, restaurants and shops. And the recommendations suggest that a savoury pie should contain no more than 695 calories." Quite how they come up with these arbitrary figures is anyone's guess.
The Government believes it has to step in because of our so-called obesity crisis. 'More than one in five pupils are obese by the time they leave primary school - including around 24,000 children who are classed as “severely obese”', according to the Telegraph.
I once walked through a retail park, into a supermarket, and then back to where I started, trying to find out if I could spot an obese child. The things you do in the name of research! Two looked a little overweight, but it was borderline, and two were obviously fat. That's 2 out of over 130 children who walked past me. If there is a childhood obesity crisis is certainly doesn't manifest itself to me anywhere I travel.
Chris Snowdon from the IEA told me recently that he asked a friend, who is a headmaster of a secondary school with hundreds of pupils, how many overweight and obese children he had on his roll. He could name one. One out of over at least 500.
One thing is for certain, though, and that is that the food industry will happily reduce the size of meals and ready meals we buy, because they won't reduce their prices. Have you noticed that your favourite chocolate bars have all shrunk in size, but the cost of them remains the same?
Steve Brine, the Public Health Minister, said that the Government was “willing to do whatever it takes to keep children healthy and well in this country.” The very Conservative notion that the responsibility of regulating what goes into children's mouths belongs belongs to parents appears to have gone out of the window.
The above is part of a bulletin I sent to Freedom Association members last Sunday. Standard membership costs £30 a year. Seniors - £20 a year. Students (under 25s only) - £5 a year.
All members receive the Free Nation, a monthly newsletter exclusively for Freedom Association members and Sunday Best, our weekly newsletter. They also receive Brexit at Noon, our daily round-up of Brexit related stories and opinions. Membership benefits also include advance notice and special rates for all our events around the country. We are not just another Westminster Village campaign group. Our recent major events have been in Harrogate and Bournemouth.
Photo Credit: ElfQrin (Valerio Capello)
