Sugar tax extended to milkshakes to tackle obesity and save NHS cash
Milkshakes and lattes are set to be hit by a sugar tax for the first time as Labour moves to extend the levy to hundreds more soft drinks including Pepsi and Ribena.
Pre-packaged milkshakes and coffees will be covered by the levy, ministers signalled on Monday, ending an exemption they described as an anomaly. The present laws have mainly affected fizzy drinks.
In a move that goes further than expected, ministers said it was time to be more ambitious on unhealthy drinks, announcing that they will also lower the sugar content threshold at which the tax applies, catching some of Britain's best-known brands and supermarket products which had changed recipes to avoid the previous levy.
Tax rates on sugary drinks will also rise 27 per
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Ed Miliband to ban Chinese ‘slave-trade' solar panels
Solar panels linked to Chinese slave labour will not be used by Britain's state-owned energy company after a government climbdown that could threaten its net-zero ambitions. In a major policy reversal, the energy minister Ed Miliband will introduce an amendment to legislation that will force GB Energy to ensure 'slavery and human trafficking is not taking place' in its supply chain. All solar panels, wind turbines and batteries must not contain materials suspected to have been produced through slave labour. Much of the world's supply of polysilicon comes from the Xinjiang region, where there are suspected human rights abuses of the Uighur population. The reversal was welcomed by some Labour MPs who had campaigned on the issue after they were ordered to block the same proposed ban when it was tabled by peers, last month. 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A government source said: 'We are committed to ensuring Great British Energy is a sector leader in this area, developing resilient, home-grown supply chains free from forced labour, and will bring forward proposals shortly on this.' Andrew Bowie, the acting shadow energy secretary, told The Times the move would lead to a 'real slowdown in the deployment of solar in the United Kingdom'. He said: 'It's a belated realisation that the use of slave labour in the manufacturing of solar technology is real, but Labour really need to answer serious questions about whether their own self-imposed targets can be met without these solar panels, and what they're going to do to address this.' John Flesher, deputy director of the Conservative Environment Network, said it was a 'long overdue move' which he welcomed — but warned: 'The government must now act to ensure that this knee-jerk U-turn doesn't damage our environmental goals and the solar industry.' 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