Former Olympic rower James Cracknell, the thinking man’s Sol Campbell, has put his name to a new Policy Exchange report calling for a tax on sugary drinks. Cracknell, PX’s “Senior Research Fellow for Obesity and Physical Activity”, praises Mexico’s tax on sugar-sweetened drinks which caused purchases to fall by 12%, concluding:

“The human misery and drain on the public finances is so great that the government has no option but to intervene… [a sugary drinks tax] is on balance a sensible intervention to help prevent the rise in obesity”

Ironically this nannying tax would hit Cracknell himself. Three years ago, the failed Tory candidate confessed to Men’s Health his two “worst vices“:

“I used to put ketchup on everything… Now I just drink a lot of coke.”

Diet, presumably.

Of course, a tax on sugary drinks would disproportionately hit poorer families. And wouldn’t be noticed by multi-millionaire coke fiends like Cracknell…

H/T Christopher Snowdon