Africa & World

The United Kingdom government has unveiled plans to prohibit the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks, including popular brands such as Red Bull, to anyone under the age of 16 in England.

Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, announcing the move on Wednesday, said the step was aimed at safeguarding young people’s wellbeing.

“By stopping children from buying these drinks, we’re laying the groundwork for healthier and happier generations,” he explained.

Government figures suggest that up to one in three teenagers aged 13 to 16 regularly consume energy drinks, many of which contain more caffeine than two cups of coffee.

While most major supermarkets already enforce a voluntary restriction, the new policy would make it a nationwide rule.

“How can we expect pupils to thrive in the classroom if they’re running on the equivalent of a double espresso every day?” Streeting asked, stressing that the government was responding to concerns raised by parents and teachers. “We’re determined to address the root causes of poor health and educational struggles head-on.”

The proposal will undergo a 12-week consultation process, seeking input from health experts, retailers, manufacturers, and the wider public.

At present, drinks containing more than 150mg of caffeine per litre are legally required to display a warning that they are not suitable for children.

But Streeting insisted this was not enough, pointing to the broader risks, “Energy drinks may look harmless, but they disrupt sleep, harm concentration, and affect children’s wellbeing. On top of that, the high-sugar varieties damage teeth and fuel obesity.”

The United Kingdom on Sunday said criminals would be barred from pubs, concerts, and sports matches under new sentencing powers as part of its Plan for Change.

It said that judges would be able to curtail offenders’ freedoms with driving limits, travel bans, and restriction zones confining them into specific areas.

The changes are expected to toughen up community punishments to deter reoffending and force offenders back on the straight and narrow.

It said that as part of the government’s work to do everything in its power to keep Britain safe, offenders coming out of prison and supervised by the Probation Service would also face similar restrictions and an expanded mandatory drug testing regime.

“In the future, criminals without known drug habits will face this scrutiny, not just those with a history of substance misuse. Offenders who break the rules face being brought back to court or hauled back to prison as punishment, depending on the sentence they are serving,” the government stated on its website on Sunday.

Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said widening the range of punishments available to judges was part of the government’s Plan for Change to cut crime and make streets safer.

“When criminals break society’s rules, they must be punished. Those serving their sentences in the community must have their freedom restricted there, too.

“These new punishments should remind all offenders that, under this Government, crime does not pay. Rightly, the public expects the government to do everything in its power to keep Britain safe, and that’s what we’re doing,” Mahmood was quoted as saying.

According to the government, judges are currently able to give out limited bans for specific crimes, for example, football bans for crimes committed inside a stadium on match day, to prevent further antisocial behaviour.

It, however, said it would change the law shortly so that such bans can be handed down as a form of punishment for any offence in any circumstance.

“It will form part of wider reforms to sentencing to ensure punishments cut crime and prisons never again run out of places for dangerous offenders. Over 2,400 prison places have opened since July 2024, with the government investing £7 billion to create a total of 14,000 as the prison population increases.

“Investment in the Probation Service will also receive a huge boost with an increase of up to £700 million by 2028/29, up from the annual budget of around £1.6 billion today. This week, it was revealed that the number of Probation Officers has increased by seven per cent in the last 12 months, with trainee probation officer numbers also seeing a surge of 15 per cent.

“This follows the government’s commitment to recruit a further 1,300 this year, in addition to the 1,000 trainee probation officers recruited last year. New technology, including artificial intelligence, will lighten the administrative burden and free up time for probation staff to increase supervision of the most dangerous offenders and keep the public safe,” the government disclosed on its website.