Fat tax
Visiting the UK for the first time in two years, I picked up a recent copy of the Daily Express that was hanging around. I'd forgotten what a garbage rag it is.
Anyhow, the letters page shared the mitherings of two nose-pickers on the question: have the people of this country let themselves go?
In the yes
corner there's Rachel Elliott of Liverpool, who gives a realistic assessment of the problem, while in the no
corner we have Cheryl Bleasdale of Southampton:
No OK, so most people in this country are now overweight. Like they say, success is never permanent and failure is rarely fatal. We, as a nation, can turn our health around but it's going to be tough with some tricky questions to answer. Booze, fast food and a sedentary lifestyle are the main issues of this obesity epidemic. So here's what I'd do. Raise the legal drinking age to 30, make alcohol so expensive that its cost is prohibitive, impose a fat tax on takeaways and give gym memberships for free on the NHS.
Cheryl Bleasdale, Southampton, Daily Express 30.08.2022
Cheryl pretty much agrees that actually they have, before sharing her thoughts on how to address the problem. Clearly a teetotal chancellor of the exchequer-in-waiting, I'm sure her policy proposals will gain enthusiastic support among the nannies of the state government. She may find herself being lynched by the thunder-thighed populace as a result though.
Nevertheless, it's heartening to know that the BBC isn't the only UK news outlet with editorial disdain for its output.