Liz Truss’s planned review – a classic Whitehall euphemism for ‘we’ve already agreed on the direction of policy – of Boris’s nannying junk food policies is going down a treat among Tufton Street’s wonk residents. With the energy price freeze having seriously disappointed the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) last week, it looks like No.10 have managed to curry back favour this morning. IEA Head of Lifestyle Economics Christopher Snowden said:

“Scrapping policies that make food and drink more expensive during a cost of living crisis is a no-brainer. The sugar tax has achieved nothing and the ban on volume price discounts will hurt everybody. We are long overdue a Prime Minister who puts the interests of consumers over the interests of nanny state pressure groups. Let us hope Liz Truss is that Prime Minister.”

The TaxPayers’ Alliance’s chief executive John O’Connell is also glad to see nanny state politics are off the menu:

“Junking these nanny state policies is long overdue. Plans to end buy-one-get-one-free were only going to pile pressure on hard-hit households during a cost of living crisis. Government cannot expect taxpayers to further tighten their belts and Truss is right to row it back.”

Meanwhile the Adam Smith Institute’s Head of Research Daniel Pryor added that junking the “anti-obesity crusade” will beef up ordinary people’s wallets:

“The Government’s anti-obesity crusade was always light on evidence but it weighs heavily on the wallets of hard-pressed consumers. It’s encouraging that the new Government could reverse the trend of politicians meddling with our weekly shop. Ordinary people have seen prices go up and choice go down whilst businesses have been burdened by yet more red tape. Multiple impact assessments—often based on questionable science—have failed to demonstrate significant impacts on public health. This has left a bitter taste in the mouth of Brits struggling with the cost of living crisis.”

Scrapping the ban on buy-one-get-one-free promotions and deals on junk food is one thing. Binning Osborne’s sugar tax would be a big step further. Hopefully Liz still has that appetite for small-c conservative politics like she promised…