UK sugar tax ‘has nothing to do with sugar’

Britain’s sugar tax will be an arbitrary burden on the poor which takes no account of the actual make-up of drinks, critics have warned.

The TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) insists the budget measure should be axed after it carried out a comparison of 49 different drinks across three areas, fizzy and energy drinks that will be taxed, and milk-based ones, and coffees, that will not.

The survey found Coca-Cola, with 10.6 grammes of sugar per 100mm, will be subject to the levy, but a Starbucks signature hot chocolate with whipped cream and coconut milk, which has 11 grammes of sugar per 100mm, will not.