Speeches by Coleman.

“That is a very neat segue. I wanted to ask you about ultra-processed foods, and also about affordability, so thank you for coming into that already. In the surveys and the work that you have done, ultra-processed foods have, as you say, consistently been highlighted as a top concern for British consumers. Are you worri…”

“The food strategy, which you worked upon, is of a huge amount of interest to the Health and Social Care Committee because of the aspects of the public health. How content are you that the food strategy really will improve public health significantly—or do you think that that is very much an add-on?”

“As a member of the Health and Social Care Committee I have had the pleasure of working under the leadership of my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Erdington (Paulette Hamilton) on this report. I have also been a member under her leadership as the vice chair of the APPG on black health. I thank her hugely for all t…”

“That is very helpful. So there are two different ways of approaching it. We can say, “There is all this rubbish food out there that is pumped full of fats, salt and sugar. Let’s just leave it be and we will try to make healthy food more affordable,” but I do not think that is really what you are saying entirely. They h…”

“Perhaps Corin will come in on this. How can we bridge the gap? What can we do? It is no good people like me saying to people who do not have much money, “You should go and eat healthy food,” if it costs twice as much as unhealthy food. What can we do? I know that Alexandra Rose makes food more affordable, but what can …”

“But you are not seeing that specific example, which is happening across London and causing not just me, but other MPs in London, some concern—McDonald’s going for 24-hour opening. Is that not happening where you are? Perhaps it is just a London thing.”

“It all comes together in planning—licensing, similarly, with the public health impact. May I ask something else? All around my constituency of Chelsea and Fulham, which is in the heart of London, McDonald’s is trying to bang through applications for 24-hour opening. That seems to me—forgive me—to be a repellent thing t…”

“On planning, what you are saying is very interesting, and bravo for what you are doing. Advertising boards, if privately owned and not on council property, still need planning permission from councils. A change to planning legislation—which you are talking about anyway in terms of public health having a particular role…”

“I partly follow that, but it would be helpful to pull it out a bit. Fundamentally, wheat and maize are not things we would not want to use as the basis of healthy foods as well. What is it that makes it so expensive to buy other healthy food? What is put in these foods that makes them so cheap to manufacture and sell, …”

“I understand that, and you have provided good evidence. We are a bit short of time. What I am really interested in is why there is such a gap, so that we can work out why it is and what we can do about it?”

“I should declare an interest: one of the boroughs in my constituency—Hammersmith and Fulham—has long funded Alexandra Rose through the public health grant. I was keen for that to continue. It has been very good for the local market, which is involved. It has helped people buy cheaper food and helped the local economy. …”

“Have you sought a private meeting with the companies, outside the AGM and the public format?”

“Have you sought separately to contact the manufacturers themselves and sit down with them to share your concerns? If so, what has the response been?”

“They have refused to take your adverts.”

“What are the names of those two agencies?”

“Alice, I heard you talking very powerfully about the food manufacturers who are making all this crap food and marketing it wildly to young people. Have you at Bite Back sought to put your concerns directly to these food manufacturers, and if so, what has the response been?”

“I am most grateful for that question, for many reasons. There is a huge problem with private equity hedge-funds going into private education, just as they have gone into care homes. That problem needs to be addressed, first, by making provision in the state sector much better than it is now. It should be as good as it …”

“I am afraid I am running out of time—ah yes, I will happily give way.”

“It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Dr Allin-Khan. In my constituency, 158 families signed the petition. We have heard that too many disabled children, not just in my constituency of Chelsea and Fulham, but across the country, are being let down. Parents feel that they must fight every step of the way just…”

“Does my hon. Friend agree that we should also look at the impact on people’s mental health of online gambling, which is responsible for between 117 and 496 suicides a year—figures repeated in our Health and Social Care Committee report? My constituent Jack lost his son Arthur to gambling-related suicide aged only 19, a…”