Boffin who said sugar tax ‘came from God’ demands nannying 20% levy on MEAT
CASH-STRAPPED BRITS should be forced to pay a staggering 20 per cent more for meat – a top academic claims.
A Professor sparked uproar by saying Theresa May should slap VAT on British favourites like steak, bangers and pies to “save the planet”.
Reverend Mike Rayner – panned last month after it claiming God was "calling him" to push for the sugar tax – said the levy would also help improve the nation’s diet.
The Oxford academic's extraordinary call comes just days after The Sun launched a “Hands Off Our Grub” campaign in wake of the hated Sugar Tax.
The Treasury last week forced up the cost of fizz such as Coke-Cola despite claims it will clobber the poor – and fail to tackle obesity.
Reverend Rayner is one of nine experts hired by the NHS last year to assess the soft drinks levy.
Speaking to The Sun, he said: “I would like to see a tax on red meat and meat products.
“The easiest way would be to put VAT on them.
“We need incentives to cut down on meat and dairy consumption.
“We need to change the way foods are eaten and one way of doing that is changing the price of goods.”
Furious critics last night warned that Nanny State lobbyists were putting Britain on an “endless slope of lifestyle regulation”.
Chris Snowdon of the Institute of Economic Affairs said: “They are now teaming up with the vegetarians and eco-warriors to make meat more expensive. Fizzy drinks today, sausages tomorrow.”
He added: “Where will it end? It’s high time the government recognised these people for the cranks that they are and gave them the cold shoulder.”
The global livestock industry is said to cause 15 per cent of all global greenhouse emissions.
Meat taxes have already been discussed in Germany, Denmark and Sweden. China cut recommended meat consumption by 45 per cent in 2016.
Analysts last December warned that “sin taxes” on meat to reduce its impact on climate change and human health looked inevitable.
Meat and meat products are almost all exempt from VAT – though the sales tax is charged on restaurant dishes and treats such as sausage rolls heated up in takeaway shops.
Reverend Rayner is a Professor at the Nuffield Department of Population Health at Oxford. The official was among a panel hired by the Department of Health last year to assess the impact of the Sugar Tax.
Campaigners argued his appointment was “inappropriate” because he once claimed God asked him to push for the levy.
Speaking to The Sun, he admitted it could take years for the Government to come round to the idea of slapping a levy on meat.
But he said: “It will come.
most read in uk news
“The Department for Environment doesn’t acknowledge the need to cut down on meat in the diet.
“But climate change will become more obvious to people.”
Last month the Sun revealed that in 2012, Reverend Rayner said the Almighty was “calling me to work towards the introduction of soft drink taxes in this country”.
“In all of this I see a sacred dimesion,” he said.
He then removed the blog post - because it was “being used by the food industry” to try and delay the levy.
TV BAN ON ADS
JUNK food ads could be banned from social media and TV shows such as X Factor in a Tory U-turn.
Culture Secretary Matt Hancock was said to be backing the plans.
Downing Street originally blocked calls for a ban in August 2016. Critics of that bid claimed they had saved Frosties character Tony the Tiger.
Labour say a pre-watershed ban would cut the number of kids that see the ads by 82 per cent.