Sir Keir Starmer has denied his plan to bring in supervised toothbrushing of young children in schools amounts to nanny state politics.
The Labour leader said the Conservatives should be ashamed of the decline in some health outcomes for British children – suggesting that it amounted to criminal neglect.
Defending Labour plans to introduce supervised toothbrushing at free breakfast clubs, Sir Keir said tooth decay should be consigned to the history books.
He also vowed to boost dental services to ensure children can get appointments when they need one – part of plan to create the “healthiest and happiest generation of children” ever in Britain.
But the announcement drew criticism from teaching unions, with leaders saying it is “not the role of teachers to be making sure children brush their teeth each day”.
Asked by reporters if supervised toothbrushing for three to five-year-olds was nanny state politics, Sir Keir said: “We want to encourage good parenting, but I don’t think we can just turn our back on it.”
He added: “When I first read the statistic that for six to 10-year-olds that the biggest admission to hospitals I was really struck. That is shocking – and I don’t think you can simply say, ‘That’s none of our business.’”
