IEA: Govt will ‘undermine, not increase’ responsibility
Mark Littlewood, director general at the Institute of Economic Affairs, comments on today’s public health announcement, cautioning the reforms will not deliver better health outcomes:
“Today’s public health package will undermine personal responsibility, not increase it. These plans will increase the state’s grip on people’s lives.
“Nutrition advice is freely available from many sources, if the government wants to put personal responsibility at the heart of Britain’s health reforms it must stop nannying people.
“The idea that changing tobacco packaging or creating a minimum price for alcohol is the key to better health outcomes is ludicrous.
“If the government is serious about delivering better health outcomes it must move to a health service that is driven by patients and their priorities, it is ultimately this, not an inclusion unit, that will make a real difference to people’s lives.
“Introducing an insurance or savings based scheme, where people bear the cost for their own health decisions, is the most effective health reform the government could make.”
