Responding to calls from the British Medical Association to introduce a sugar tax as a 'useful first step,' Jonathan Isaby, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:
It is deeply concerning that the British Medical Association Association is describing what would be a regressive tax, hitting the poorest hardest, as a 'useful first step.' It is clear that a Sugar Tax would signal a descent down a very slippery slope. Levies like this have been tried elsewhere, such as in Denmark, and haven't worked.
"Rather than listen to the self-appointed High Priests of the Nanny State, the Government should let the numerous other programmes they have put in place around education and information bed in. Changes to Britain's diets will happen via a long-term cultural shift, not by hiking the cost of living."