Leading public health experts are calling on Members of Parliament (MPs) to protect the health of their constituents and wise up to lobbying tactics from businesses whose sales contribute to poor health such as tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy food and drinks.
They are calling on MPs to:
- Avoid conflicts of interests and reject corporate hospitality (such as tickets to sporting or cultural events) from unhealthy product industries
- Call on the government to adopt transparent principles for engagement and interaction with health harming industries
- Equip themselves to challenge common industry arguments that undermine public health
A new report from the Alcohol Health Alliance, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) and the Obesity Health Alliance (OHA) highlights how these industries use shared strategies to delay or disrupt public health policies to protect their business models. Common tactics include downplaying the potential harms linked to their products, using legal threats, and creating misleading narratives about individual responsibility.
Protecting health policy from industry influence is strongly supported by the British public. A recent YouGov poll of over 13,000 GB adults revealed that most people support protecting government health policies from the influence of the tobacco industry (78%), the alcohol industry (71%), and the manufacturers of unhealthy food and drinks (71%).
One strategy outlined in the report is the use of gifts, benefits, and hospitality to gain access to MPs and their staff to cultivate allies. MPs and members of the House of Lords are permitted to accept such gifts under the Code of Conduct provided they declare any gifts exceeding £300 in value. However, recent reports raise concerns that businesses are providing gifts strategically valued just below the £300 threshold or are distributed during parliamentary events where they don’t have to be declared by an MP. The register of members’ interests may therefore represent only a fraction of the actual gifts received. This raises concerns about conflicts of interest, particularly when MPs are tasked with making policy decisions that may impact these industries.
The newly elected Labour government has pledged to restore public confidence in politics by ensuring the highest standards of integrity and transparency. In light of this, ASH, OHA, and AHA are urging MPs to familiarise themselves with common lobbying tactics and prioritise the health of their constituents above the profits of unhealthy industries.
While the UK’s commitments under the World Health Organization’s tobacco control treaty impose strict rules on government engagement with the tobacco industry, similar regulations are lacking for the alcohol and junk food industries. This gap in regulation is a cause for concern, particularly as public support for government action in this area is strong. Government must listen to this and take decisive action to ensure that public health policy is protected from undue industry influence, the health organisations say.
Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, Chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance, said: “Alcohol, tobacco and unhealthy food are the three biggest killers in our society, with alcohol alone claiming 10,000 lives in 2022—the worst on record. Our national health and frontline services are at breaking point as a result.
“For too long, previous governments have worked hand in glove with these industries, leading to policies that prioritise private profits over public health. All the while people have paid the price with their lives. MPs are expected to make decisions based on the best interests of their constituents, but we know that lobbying tactics such as receiving gifts and benefits from these industries can lead to a conflict of interest and impartiality being compromised. If the new Labour government is serious about health as a key mission, and about cleaning up standards in Westminster, embracing the principles outlined in this report would be a good place to start.”
Hazel Cheeseman, Deputy Chief Executive, Action on Smoking and Health said: “The tobacco industry’s tactics of denial, delay and obstruction mean it has taken decades longer than needed to reduce the harms from smoking at a cost of thousands if not millions of lives. As other health-harming industries pick up the tobacco playbook, policy-makers must be wary. To preserve their integrity, maintain public trust, and ensure that public health is prioritised over private interests, MPs should avoid accepting gifts or hospitality from industries that produce harmful products. Many of these companies have clear commercial conflicts of interests and very little incentive to see sales of their harmful products fall. If you want to put out a fire don’t invite an arsonist to help.”
Katharine Jenner, Director, Obesity Health Alliance, added: “Unhealthy food and drink companies have tried to convince every government, since the first strategy to address obesity in the 1990s, that they can act responsibly yet so much evidence points to the contrary. Meanwhile they continue to bombard our children with advertising and promotions for unhealthy food and drink, leading to increases in obesity, in inequalities, and in pressure on the NHS to treat the resulting poor health, such as cancers, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
“The use of gifts, benefits, and hospitality to gain access to MPs and cultivate allies is a well-used tactic from the health-harming industry playbook. Elected representatives should be vigilant of this and should not leave themselves open to being influenced by, or feeling that they owe anything to, these industries by accepting their offers. There is, after all, no such thing as a free lunch”.
Gerry Taylor, spokesperson for the Association of Directors of Public Health on the Commercial Determinants of Health said: “Harmful products including tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy food and drink cause a multitude of largely avoidable conditions, including many cancers, respiratory, heart and liver disease, mental health disorders and suicide. In England alone, these conditions cause nearly 90% of deaths. To build a stronger, healthier, and more productive society, we need to reduce the levels of harmful consumption so that the number of people experiencing and dying from preventable diseases can also be reduced.
“Consumer choice is not completely free. Instead, it is heavily influenced by industry lobbying and tactics and so we need to rethink how these businesses are engaged in policy making where there are clear conflicts between commercial and public interests. By concentrating our efforts on building a strong economy which delivers good wages, good jobs and promotes good health and wellbeing for everyone, we will be able to improve the nation’s health and create a society where people are able to enjoy healthier lives for longer.”
Jim Dickson MP, Labour MP for Dartford, said: “Taking hospitality from companies that are lobbying politicians to be allowed to continue to promote and sell their products in ways that harm my constituents does not sit well with me. I will be avoiding these offers and my advice to others is to do the same. In my view all engagement with businesses should be fully transparent and always in the interests of the public.”
