At 9.00am this morning Labour will launch a "new approach to public health".
What they really mean is "more (much more) of the same, extended into areas such as food and drink".
Speaking at the left wing think tank Demos shadow health secretary Andy Burnham will "pledge to take tougher action to protect children from commercial pressures and the harm caused by alcohol, sugar and smoke".
According to the party's press release, embargoed until one minute ago:
Labour's approach to public health is illustrated in a new food policy. Maximum limits will be set on levels of fat, salt and sugar in food marketed substantially to children. And to support the population as a whole, Labour will pursue improvements to food labelling to help people better understand what they are eating, including working at EU level to introduce traffic-light labelling of packaged food.
Action on public health is essential not only to improve health and wellbeing but to ensure the NHS remains sustainable for the long term. For example, figures show that unless firm action is taken to halt the rise in obesity and diabetes, the cost of diabetes to the NHS will rise from £10 billion to £17 billion a year by 2035.
Forget talk about "personal responsibility", it's clear Labour wants the state to play an even bigger role in how we raise our children. At the same time they intend to impose even more regulations on adults in a bid to force us to change our lifestyle.
Two words you can expect to hear again and again are "protect" and "children".
Parents are responsible for securing the health of their children and will be better supported to do so. Labour believes Government action is justified to protect children as they do not make all their own choices and to support parents trying to make the best decisions for their children.
Measures the party intends to introduce in government include:
– Placing the promotion of physical activity at the centre of public health policy with new, easily-understandable recommended levels of physical activity and a new national ambition. This will include a basic minimum that everyone who can should try to do, and a recommended level that we should aspire to get at least 50 per cent of people achieving by 2025;
– Targeted action on high-strength, low-cost alcohol which fuels binge drinking and does most harm to health, with a range of options on both price and bottle-size being explored;
– Standardised cigarette packaging to be introduced immediately to halt the industry's increasingly sophisticated methods of recruiting new, young smokers; and a goal that children born in 2015 will become the first 'smoke-free generation'.
In his speech this morning Burnham will say:
"Labour has traditionally led the way on public health and this new approach will chart a new course towards a healthy nation in the 21st Century.
"In a century of rising demand, helping people take more responsibility for their own health will be essential if we are to ensure the NHS remains affordable and sustainable for the future.
"As part of this, children will need better protection from the pressures of modern living and the harm caused by alcohol, sugar and smoke and Labour will not flinch from taking the action needed to provide it.
"David Cameron and his Government are too close to powerful vested interests to stand up for our children.
"This new positive approach will help give all children a healthy start and help adults to get the most out of life."
Luciana Berger MP, Labour's shadow minister for public health, will then add:
"We want every adult to be able to make informed, healthy choices that are right for them. Whether it is deciding to cycle to work, taking up a sport or quitting cigarettes, today we are setting a range of actions we will take to support people to achieve this.
"Alongside this, we are setting our clear intention to take robust action to protect children from harm where voluntary measures have failed including regulating to limit the amount of sugar, fat salt in food marketed substantially to children, introducing standardised packaging of tobacco that this Government has failed to achieve, and cracking down on the high-strength, low-cost alcohol products that fuel binge drinking and do most harm to health."
Ignoring the fact that today's generation is living longer and is generally healthier than any previous generation in history, what Burnham is announcing today is no less than a war on consumer choice and parental responsibility.
Economic socialism is slowly being replaced by lifestyle socialism. It's been happening for years. The question is, what is David Cameron going to do about it? How the Tories respond will tell us an awful lot about the current Conservative party and whether we should vote for them in May.
Do they support further government intervention in our daily lives or will they side with the overwhelming majority of adults who are perfectly capable of making decisions for themselves and their children without the state breathing down their necks?
Don't hold your breath.
PS. Coming soon, the antidote to Labour's "action on public health", Action on Consumer Choice.
Simon Clark