Budget suggestion: put a swingeing tax on SALT - especially the salt added to tinned and processed foods and ready meals.

This would to some extent result in some people eating less salt and therefore improving their present and future health and happiness. This would save money for the NHS and hopefully would enable some ill people to become well enough to try to get a job and come off benefits.

I realise my suggestion would not be simple to implement and would need time to be spent in ironing out anomalies and other practical problems, including the squawks from the food industry who have many reasons, mostly malign, to want to be able to continue to make and sell salty food, but the time and effort would be well worth it.

When I studied economics years ago I remember we were told that salt is an example of inelastic demand because it is a necessity of life so it will be bought no matter the price. - I hope that rule is not immutable. - The time has come for a sea change in our way of thinking about salt.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, stroke, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs, hunger or expense by eating less salt! - Try it!

See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

And see Sodium in foods and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations

amitriptyline

prescribed steroids and HRT

See advice for pregnant mothers

Children and Obesity

Associated health conditions

and FAT RETENTION