Carole Malone has criticised Labour’s child health plan amid suggestions Starmer is embracing the “nanny state” label.
Speaking on GB News, the Daily Express columnist suggested the plan will absolve parents of personal responsibility on the matter.
The Labour leader said he is “up for the fight” of defending the “nanny state” as he announced plans to improve child health under a Labour government.
One of the more radical policies outlined was supervised toothbrushing in schools.
The Labour leader said he is ‘up for the fight’ of defending the ‘nanny state’
GB NEWS / GETTY
“It’s not a teacher’s job, it’s a parent’s job”, Laone said.
“Teachers are not paid to teach children how to brush their teeth. This is a parent’s job.
Carole Malone has criticised Labour’s supervised toothbrushing plan
GB NEWS
“It’s a dereliction of duty from parents. If you have a child, you have to be able to tell them to brush their teeth.”
Former Labour adviser Scarlett MccGwire argued that young children are being punished for having parents who are “not doing” what they should be.
“There are a lot of parents who are not doing it”, she said.
“There’s a lot of children going to school or hospital with decaying teeth, they’re saying, ‘let’s teach the children how to do this’.”
Malone snapped back arguing parents are being given a “pass” on the matter, which MccGwire countered by arguing that she had missed the point.
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting defended proposals to introduce supervised toothbrushing for young children in breakfast clubs from claims it is a “nanny state” policy.
Speaking to broadcasters on a visit to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool, he said: “If the Conservatives want to throw around silly labels like ‘nanny state’, and then they’re going to throw much more mud than that in the run up to the election.
“I don’t think the public are going to buy that after 14 years of their failure.
“We’re not going to sit idly by while tooth decay sees so many children admitted to hospital.”
Talking about plans to reduce junk food ads and children vaping, he said: “We’re not going to sit idly by while children become fatter, more unhealthy, less happy, we’re going to take action on behalf of children across our country and I think that’s something parents across the land will support.”
