The Sun launches Hands Off Our Grub campaign against food and drink taxes which hit the poor hardest

THE Sun today launches a crusade against taxes on food and drinks — as a minister warned of more levies.

MPs backed our Hands Off Our Grub drive, which follows the sugar tax on beverages.

They point out that extra charges mainly hit the poor and there is no evidence they improve dietary habits.

Ex-minister Andrew Percy said: “The last thing consumers need is for food to become more expensive.

"Education, not tax rises, is how to encourage healthier eating. Better labelling and public education should be the Government’s priority.”

Jacob Rees-Mogg said: “These taxes are regressive, inevitably falling hardest on the least well-off.

“It’s un-Conservative to rifle through people’s cupboards to decide what they can eat. Politicians ought not to lead voters’ lives for them.”

Philip Davies branded it an “unnecessary nanny-state tax I would expect from a socialist Government, not a Conservative one”.

Daniel Pryor of the Adam Smith Institute think-tank ridiculed the levy as “clearly useless”, adding that there is “no evidence it works”.

The sugar tax has added 10p to a typical 330ml can of Coke or Pepsi.

More than half of firms have cut sugar in drinks, such as Dr Pepper and Ribena, since the move was announced in 2016.

Treasury Secretary Robert Jenrick warned milk drinks would be next unless makers cut sugar by a fifth within two years.

Sweets and juices could also be hit.

He said: “The levy proved firms can reduce sugar without ruining taste.

“The fact they did before it came into force shows its success. We want makers of other products to follow.”

Ex-Chancellor George Osborne said he expected the tax to be widened “to things like milk products."

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