A pre-election commitment from Labour promised that the “Child Health Action Plan will create the healthiest generation of children ever”. That cannot be criticised for lacking ambition and sits alongside equally ambitious manifesto commitments to end mass dependency on emergency food parcels and to tackle child poverty.
Though this ambition is needed, the challenge for the government is to drive through the policies that will make those ambitions a reality, particularly given the clear economic difficulties the country faces.
Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month