Minister condemns 'appalling' anti-IDF chants at Glastonbury - but tells Israeli embassy to 'get your own house in order'

Government's plan to cut calories is 'focussing on the wrong area', warns RCN boss

The government is "focussing on the wrong area" when it comes to tackling obesity, the chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing has warned. 

Nicola Ranger spoke to Trevor Phillips a little earlier this morning about the government's plans to cut calories by imposing mandatory targets for sales of healthy foods on supermarkets.

She said: "Sadly, I think we're probably focusing on slightly the wrong area with regards to how we get people to live healthier lives. And that starts at school-aged children.

"We've reduced the number of nurses, and health visitors and nurses for schoolchildren by 45% since 2009. 

"This government talks a lot about prevention, but before we get to supermarket baskets, maybe we should try and increase the number of nurses that are really in a good place for that prevention conversation."

Pushed on whether the government is tackling the issue in the wrong way, Ranger responded: "I think trying to control the symptom is more challenging than getting to the root of the challenge and the problem."

'People want to see their GP, not "hide the crisps"', says former health minister

Turning now to the government's plan to cut calories, announced this morning, Helen Whately says it seems to be proposals to "hide the crisps".

The former health minister tells Sky News: "I mean it's obviously the nanny state, but it's also not what people want for the NHS. 

"People want to hear how they are going to get to see their GP, how are they going to know that if they go to A&E, how they're going to get treated. Then we get hide the crisps."

Challenged on whether the government can be trying to solve obesity and reducing waiting times simultaneously, Whately responds that it's "fine" for the government to "talk to supermarkets".

"But telling people what to buy, I think, is not up to government. I believe in personal responsibility", she says. 

To be clear, Health Secretary Wes Streeting insisted to Trevor Phillips this morning that he is "not interested in stopping you buying things".

Top Tory prevaricates on whether Conservatives will back government's welfare reforms

Trevor Phillips now turns to the government's welfare reforms, which will be voted on in parliament on Tuesday. 

He asks Helen Whatley if the Conservatives will vote against it - and she declines to give a clear answer.

The shadow work and pension secretary says: "Where we are now, the system's not working. 

"We need the [benefits] bill brought down, and we need more people to be back and work - 3000 people a day signing on sickness benefits and potentially life on benefits rather than life on the job.

"The government has to take action on that. 

"The problem of what we had before us, which has been the cause of the latest U-turn from Labour is, you know, it's not nearly enough. It was £5 billion in savings. Now it's more like £2 billion of a bill that's going up to £100 billion by the end of this decade."

Pushed again on how the Conservatives will vote, Whately says that her party is expecting to hear a statement from Liz Kendall, her Labour counterpart tomorrow. 

"We'll see actually, what she sets out in it", she says. 

"We have said that if there are more savings that actually bring the welfare bill down, if they'll get more people into work, and if they commit to using the savings to avoid tax cuts in the autumn, which looks highly likely at the moment, then they have our support."

Pushed once more on how the Conservatives will vote, Whately declines to answer.

Chants of 'death to the IDF' at Glastonbury Festival were 'disgusting', says Tory

Trevor Phillips is now speaking to Helen Whately, the shadow work and pensions secretary.

He begins by asking Whately for her reaction to the comments made at Glastonbury Festival yesterday.

She says: "I was shocked to see some of the footage of that chanting of the crowd. And the music artist was ramping it up.

"I mean to me, also, one of the horrible things about it is, obviously it's over a year and a half ago that innocent, festival goers at a festival in Israel were raped and murdered by Hamas and then we have a music festival here in the UK where you have a chant saying death to the Israeli Armed Forces who are, you know, taking action to protect people from what Hamas did in Israel. 

"I just think it's disgusting."

Pushed on whether she thinks legal action should be taken against Bob Vylan, the group who led the chants of "death to the IDF" at the festival, Wakely responds: "There should be some sort of action."

"I just think it's an awful thing to see that happening in our country", she adds.

Chants were an incitement to kill, not free speech

The shadow pensions secretary says she believes the BBC should have cut the feed - something Wes Streeting declined to say a little earlier this morning. 

She explains: "Yes, I believe in free speech, but that was incitement to violence. It was incitement to kill. That is not something that we support in this country."

Pushed on comments by the Israeli Embassy this morning about what the scenes at Glastonbury say about the British public, Whately responds: "I don't think the crowd at Glastonbury is necessarily representative of the mood of the whole country".

She goes on: "I understand how it feels when you see civilians being killed in Gaza and children and babies. It's awful to see that. But we have to remember that that's happening because of Hamas and what they did."

Streeting insists his plan to cut calories isn't about stopping people from 'buying things'

Wes Streeting is now being asked about his announcement today that the government is setting mandatory targets for supermarkets to sell more healthy food, in a bid to cut calories. 

Trevor Phillips shows the health secretary a plate of his 'favourite food', which contains calorific ice cream and chocolate. 

Streeting responds: "I'm not interested in stopping you buying things.

"I'm not going to be looking over your shoulder. 

"Instead of traditional nanny-statism where we regulate more heavily on price or marketing on what's sold, we're taking a world first approach, which is working with supermarkets using data they already collect about the nutritional value of their shopping baskets and shopping trolleys.

"We're going to work with them to reduce the amounts of unhealthy food in trolleys and baskets by setting targets on the healthy value of your shopping trolleys and baskets."

Changes to cuts to welfare have 'put us in a much better position'

Wes Streeting is now talking about the government's changes to plans to cut welfare, following the emergence of a backbench rebellion.

The bill is due to be voted on in parliament on Tuesday, but Sir Keir Starmer had to climb down from his original position after more than 120 Labour MPs publicly opposed the plans along with senior figures like London mayor Sadiq Khan. 

Responding, Streeting tells Sky News: "I think the changes that were made this week have put us in a much better position, not just on the vote on Tuesday, but on the substance of the package, because as a result of the changes, it means anyone watching this morning who's in receipt of of PIP, Personal Independence Payments, now has the peace of mind of knowing that their situation is protected."

But the health secretary refuses to rule out whether MPs who vote against the bill will lose the Labour whip. 

He says: "It's part of the course of parliamentary debate that we all held to account by the government. The MPs put forward their proposals, their alternatives. There is an expectation that Labour MPs vote for the whip." 

But people "don't always do that", he admits.

MPs and minister both want to get welfare reforms 'right'

Trevor points out that the plans were first announced 104 days ago, and the bill published several weeks ago - but it was only a few days ago that the government realised it's existing position was wrong. 

He asks whether ministers are out of touch with their MPs and what they've been doing for the past 100 days.

Streeting responds that most Labour MPs have said they "agree" with the principles of reforming welfare to provide "better protection for those who genuinely can't work through no fault of their own" while making the system "more sustainable".

"On that, there's been broad consensus", he says.

Pushed on whether ministers have been too slow to pick up on discontent among the Labour backbenches, Streeting says: "The bill was published just the other week. 

"They've looked at the bill and a large number of my colleagues said, 'we've now seen the details - we can't support the bill as it is, we need that to be changed'."

He adds welfare reform is "something that Labour MPs and ministers both want to get right".

Streeting says: "Government brings forward proposals and parliament scrutinises and sometimes, they have to say it firmly: 'you haven't got this right. You have to go back to the drawing board. You have to make changes.'"

Comments made on stage at Glastonbury Festival are 'appalling', says minister

Wes Streeting is now speaking to Trevor Phillips, who begins by asking about comments made by members of Bob Vylan on stage at Glastonbury Festival yesterday. 

The group called for "death to the IDF" and chanted "free, free Palestine", with both calls aired on the BBC. 

A performance by Kneecap, an Irish hi-hop trio, was not broadcast but a member of the group called for people to "riot", ahead one of the group's upcoming court appearance - he has been charged with a terror offence. 

Asked about these displays, the health secretary says: "I thought it was appalling, to be honest and I think the BBC and Glastonbury have got questions to answer about how we saw such a spectacle on our screens. 

"But I also think it's a pretty shameless publicity stunt, which I don't really want to give too much indulgence to."

He adds that people should be talking about Israeli settler raids on Palestinian communities, instead. 

Streeting says that "all life is sacred and I find it pretty revolting".

"We've got to a state in this conflict where you're supposed to sort of cheer on one side or the other, like it's a football team", he adds.

Israel should 'get its own house in order'

The Israeli Embassy called the comments raise serious concerns about the normalisation of extremist language and the glorification of violence. 

Streeting said he takes what they say "seriously" but he also rebukes the embassy in response.

He tells Sky News: "I'd also say to the Israeli embassy, get your own house in order, in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank.

"We all condemned and continue to condemn what happened on October the 7th. We all want to see the return of the hostages. And there's no justification for inciting violence against Israelis.

"But you know, the way in which Israel's conducting this war has made it extremely difficult for Israel's allies around the world to stand by and justify. In fact, we've got to do the opposite as an international community, which is to challenge and urge a change, of course", he adds.

Tories call plan to cut calories 'completely unserious' and the 'worst type of nanny state'

The government has gone to some effort to get support from industry and charities for its new food plan, which will see supermarkets forced to publish sales of healthy food and hit government targets. 

But the Conservatives are less impressed with the proposals.

Richard Holden said: "Making it harder to find crisps is not a substitute for proper reform. 

"Labour ministers too scared to face up to the fundamental changes our NHS needs."

The senior Tory said his party made "real progress on obesity" when in government.

To be clear, an upcoming report by the chief medical officer will show that more than 1 in 5 children are living with obesity by the time they leave primary school, rising to almost 1 in 3 in areas with higher levels of poverty and deprivation.

But Holden has criticised how the government is going about encouraging people to make healthier choices. 

He added: "We’ve always believed the best results come when people are trusted to take responsibility for their own health.

"Rearranging meal deals will make little difference.

"This is the worst type of nanny state nonsense there is – shallow, distracting, and completely unserious."

Supermarkets to promote healthier food under new government plans

The government is working with supermarkets to get them to promote healthier food, in a bid to cut obesity and save the NHS money. 

Under the new plans, shops will create a new healthy standard, which will see customers encouraged to choose healthier food and drink options. 

In what ministers have termed a "world-first partnership between government and industry", supermarkets will be given freedom on how they promote this new healthy standard. 

It's all part of the government's upcoming 10-Year Health Plan, which is expected to be unveiled in full next week. 

The government says that if everybody cut 50 calories from their intake a day, this would lift 340,000 children and 2m adults out of obesity.

 The UK now has the third-highest rate of obesity in Europe, with obesity also being a leading cause of heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

Wes Streeting said: "Obesity has doubled since the 1990s and costs our NHS £11 billion a year, triple the budget for ambulance services. Unless we curb the rising tide of cost and demand, the NHS risks becoming unsustainable. 

"If everyone who is overweight reduced their calorie intake by around 200 calories a day – the equivalent of a bottle of fizzy drink – obesity would be halved."

The health secretary added: "Through our new healthy food standard, we will make the healthy choice the easy choice, because prevention is better than cure. 

"By shifting from sickness to prevention, we will make sure the NHS can be there for us when we need it."

Mandatory healthy food sales targets to be set by the government

 Environment Secretary Steve Reed has said the health plan will also be coordinated with the government's food strategy "to make sure we can feed the nation more healthily while growing the economic success of our food sector."

Under the new proposals, all big businesses will have to report on healthy food sales, and the government will set targets for these sales.

The plan has been backed by Tesco, Sainsbury's, the British Heart Foundation, and the Obesity Health Alliance among others. 

Cancer Research UK has called it "an important step" and called on the government to announce "introduce further bold preventative policies in both the upcoming 10-year health plan and National Cancer Plan".

Meanwhile, Diabetes UK has welcomed the introduction of mandatory reporting and targets on healthy food sales.

It added: "Public health policies like this and the junk food marketing ban, have the power to shift the dial from sickness to prevention."

-SKY NEWS