Extract from Oral
answer (Lords) on Cancer Research UK Report
(Con): My Lords,
does the Minister recognise that one of the causative factors of
cancer is obesity? Some 40 million people in this country are
obese, and according to the latest estimate it is costing £100
billion a year. Is it not time to adopt the campaign technique
that Norman Fowler—now the noble Lord, Lord Fowler—successfully
conducted in the 1980s? He had the courage to state the truth and
make sure that it was successful.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health
and Social Care () (Con): Yes, we are taking
extensive action on the obesity front. As well as being a major
cause of cancer, it is the cause of a lot of ill health. We have
taken a lot of action against 96% of the reasons given in obesity
research on calorific intake, with regard to what people buy in
supermarkets
Also, the soft drinks industry levy—the sugar tax—has decreased
sugar in drinks by at least 14%.
To read all the exchanges, OPEN HERE
Extract from Commons
debate on Town Centre Safety
(Oldham West and Royton)
(Lab/Co-op):...We have had 9,000 shops close in the last decade,
affecting 125,000 jobs in their communities: 41% of those were
clothing shops, 19% sold household goods and 10% were convenience
stores. Thinking about convenience stores, whether it be the
local Co-op, Tesco Express
or Morrisons, where will the cash machine be
after the bank closes? The bank closes, the post office closes
and the convenience store closes, and there is no cash machine
for people to take out money from the bank, leading to financial
isolation in many places...
(Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op):
I represent the Labour and Co-operative party and I have great
sympathy for shop workers who are being harassed and attacked,
and having a really tough time. Does my hon. Friend agree that we
need not only more community police, but far better co-operation
with the big supermarkets and
their staff, and for them to bring together a whole team to
protect both shoppers and those who are serving?
(Batley and Spen)
(Lab):...Local councils, the police and the courts will be
empowered to introduce zero-tolerance zones in town centres to
help to crack down on antisocial behaviour. I was horrified to
hear the stories from staff at Tesco
in Cleckheaton recently about the dreadful abuse and attacks they
face on a day-to-day basis. We cannot have small business owners
and shopworkers feeling unsafe at work, and we cannot have local
people feeling scared to go into their local town centre or
village to do their shopping or to socialise...
To read the whole debate, OPEN HERE
Extract from
Westminster Hall debate on Violence and Abuse towards the Retail
Workforce
(Strangford) (DUP): I commend the hon. Lady for
securing this debate. This is a massive issue in my constituency.
My eldest son used to manage a local shop in the high street of
the main town where I reside. He has made me aware of a few
occasions when young people have gone in at night to steal items
from the store and created a severe sense of fright and fear
among the staff. A young girl who worked in the shop, a
19-year-old, was scared stiff—I use those words on purpose.
Does the hon. Lady agree that retail staff often face the most
violent torrents of abuse and that more must be done to protect
their security? That could include two things: panic buttons or
immediate access to the police. Quite often, the police do not
attend.
(Blaydon) (Lab): I thank the
hon. Member, who is right to remind us that the issue is about
not only supermarkets
but small shopkeepers; I think of some of the villages in my
constituency...
To read the whole debate, OPEN HERE
