Those giving Botox-type treatments will need to be licensed

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One month ago an undercover investigation by The Times revealed how beauty industry practitioners with no medical qualifications were injecting women with “black market” variants of Botox, the anti-wrinkle treatment. Yesterday Sajid Javid, the health secretary, tabled an amendment to the Health and Care Bill going through parliament that would allow him to introduce a licensing regime for Botox and fillers.

This is the right way forward and Mr Javid deserves credit for acting so quickly after our investigation. Botox and other licensed brands of the botulinum toxin are rightly available in Britain only on prescription. What’s more, although beauticians can administer the injections, they have to be trained. These are sensible safeguards. Campaigners say there were 270 complaints of botched treatments in 2020, up