Jamie Oliver gets his way with sugar tax drive
UK government publishes draft legislation after celebrity chef threatened Cameron with ‘going ninja’, writes Stephanie Baker
Jamie Oliver does not mince words: Britain, like the US, is too fat. So fat that he has been waging a public war on sugar — one that has Big Food up in arms. It began in June 2015 when the rock-star chef walked into 10 Downing Street to meet former British prime minister David Cameron and proposed a tax on sugary drinks such as Coke and Pepsi. "I might as well have wafted dog’s muck in front of everyone," Oliver recalled. "He said, ‘Well I don’t really like a tax’." Seemingly against the odds, Oliver got his way, making the fifth-largest economy in the world the latest wealthy nation to combat obesity and the health problems that come with it. In March, then-chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne surprised health campaigners by announcing he would legislate to impose a tax that would raise £520m a year. New Prime Minister Theresa May decided to push ahead with the tax in August, when her government singled out Oliver as a key supporter. On Monday last week, the government publis...
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