Boris slammed over sugar tax review

The frontrunner in the race to become Prime Minister came under heavy criticism after promising to review the taxes, including the levy on sugary soft drinks.

He defended his pledge not to introduce new sin taxes or increase current levels unless a review concludes they are effective and do not unfairly hit those on low incomes.

The sugar tax on soft drinks has been celebrated by the Treasury for shrinking the amount of sugar in the national diet by 45 million kg a year, and for raising millions in sports funding.

Mr Johnson's commitment, which excludes taxes on alcohol and tobacco, came as Cancer Research UK warned that obesity causes more cases of some cancers than smoking.

It also came as a key ally of Mr Johnson, Health Secretary Matt Hancock, prepared to publish a green paper recommending the extension of the sugar tax to milkshakes.

Labour deputy leader Tom Watson accused Mr Johnson of "siding with big sugar", and also challenged Mr Hancock to quit the Cabinet "if his drive to tackle obesity is undermined" by Mr Johnson.

In a letter to the Health Secretary, Mr Watson, who lost more than seven stone after cutting his sugar intake, said: "You have just committed to trying to halve child obesity in a decade.

"That is a laudable aim but it is not going to be achievable if measures like the sugar tax are reversed.

"So can I ask – for the sake of the nation’s health- will you make maintaining the sugar tax a condition of serving in a Boris Johnson cabinet?

"Obesity campaigners respect your record as Health Secretary and believe you are genuinely committed to the cause of getting our nation healthier.

"Scrapping the sugar tax, letting Coca Cola off the hook and watching sugar seep back into children’s drinks would be the worst way to undermine all of that progress."

He added that the sugar related illness of type 2 diabetes was "rotting our nation from the inside and causing early deaths".

"Yet Boris Johnson sides with big sugar over ordinary families trying to get healthy."

Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) chief executive Shirley Cramer said the organisation was "seriously disappointed" by the announcement and praised moves to tackle childhood obesity.

"One of the successes of the last Conservative government was the introduction of the sugar levy for soft drinks. The evidence shows that the sugar levy has worked," she said.

"We should be building on the success of the sugar levy, not turning back the clock on the progress that has been made so far."