Our reaction to the King's Speech

The new Labour government yesterday laid out its legislative priorities during the King's Speech at the State Opening of Parliament.

A total of 40 bills were announced and here we outline our thoughts on what they mean in the context of our goal of improving the food system.

Hannah Brinsden, The Food Foundation's Head of Policy and Advocacy, said: "The King's Speech contained some positive first steps on health, reiterating the government’s commitment for the NHS to focus more on prevention.

"This included specific legislation to restrict the advertising of junk food to children and banning sales of high caffeine energy drinks to children.

"However, if Labour is going to meet its ambition of achieving the healthiest generation of children in our history, it will need to go much further than this and take a wider range of steps to improve our food system.

"Recent evidence shows children in England are getting shorter, that life expectancy at birth is decreasing, and children are more likely to have obesity and type 2 diabetes, highlighting just how important addressing this issue is.

"The King's Speech also touched on issues of wealth creation, opportunities for all, and getting through the cost of living crisis, however there was no mention of the child poverty strategy previously committed to.

"With millions sadly still experiencing food insecurity across the UK, it was positive to see commitments around a better deal for workers, however more action is desperately needed to ensure everybody can access and afford a healthy and sustainable diet, including by enhancing benefits and strengthening existing nutritional safety nets such as Healthy Start and Free School Meals.