Well…That Happened. How The Political Changes Will Affect Bite Back’s Work
Last week Boris Johnson resigned as the leader of the Conservative party and the Prime Minister after a flurry of over 50 ministers from his Government forced his hand. But what does it all mean for us here at Bite Back?
According to the timeline set by the Conservative Party, the new leader and Prime Minister will be in place by 5 September. Until then we have a caretaker Government, led by Boris Johnson. Their role is to manage the day-to-day running of the country, but not bring forward any new significant policy platforms or progress in controversial areas.
It is likely that the incoming leader will reshuffle their cabinet, meaning we could well have a new Secretary of State in key areas relating to our campaigns such as Health and Education. These Ministers will bring their own priorities and views about how to address the most pressing issues facing the UK.
What Does This Mean For Our Current Campaigns?
Extending Free School Meals to 800,000 Children In Need
The cost of living crisis is set to dominate politics far beyond the leadership contest with food and energy price rises set to push more and more people into poverty. Our free school meal campaign provides one simple solution for the next Prime Minister. While no announcement is likely to be made before the autumn, it's important to keep raising awareness of the issue to build public support and political will. So please continue to sign and share our petition which we will deliver to the new Government.
#DontHideWhatsInside
The Government consulted on front-of-pack labelling back in 2019 and is yet to publish its response. We are unlikely to see any progress in policy to make labelling mandatory or address misleading health claims until after September. In the meantime, we need to keep calling out bad practices by food companies and encourage them to take action to ensure their packaging is not misleading
Ending Junk Food Advertising
New advertising rules have been delayed for a year and we are unlikely to see any change to this unless we get a new Prime Minister or Health Secretary of State who is committed to taking junk food out of the spotlight. After September, we will need to renew our efforts to persuade MPs and Ministers that aggressive marketing means unhealthy food is centre stage in young people's minds.
We are still here and will continue to battle through any political changes to come. Our mission has not changed and we will always speak up for the right of all children to have access to healthy food no matter where they live.
