Daily Telegraph 19th July 2003
Author: Felicity Kendal
Multi-tasking on the way to the dentist - talking on the mobile, writing a memo about swimming lessons and managing to avoid a pedestrian who was overheating in the sun - it came to me that there was not a bobby to be seen between Chelsea and Harley Street. With the support of our local coppers, we have a patrol dog in our neighbourhood now, paid for by the residents - a small attempt, hopefully not futile, to discourage crime on our doorsteps.
Our beloved bobbies are on the decline, and we're in a country where it's not safe to walk in a park at night, not safe for children to play alone in the countryside, and not safe to wear a gold watch, if you're that type of person, and walk the streets of London (I know five people who have been mugged in daylight). So it's a bit rich for this Government - the same Government that supports MMR and HRT, and how safe are they? - to be so concerned for our safety they propose to remove our choice of alternative treatment.
On July 3, a standing committee of the House of Commons voted on whether the EU foods supplement directive should be implemented in Britain. Certain tactics were used to push through a law no one wants. Two members of the committee were bumped off and replaced by yes-men, and neither a petition of more than a million signatures nor the House of Lords voting 132 to 79 against on June 30 made any impact. At the meeting, three members arrived to vote not having heard the debate, and one member who had been bumped came to the debate anyway to voice her concerns. Her mistake had been to let someone know that she intended to vote against the directive. In the end, the committee voted seven to six in favour of implementing the bloody thing.
Give us an educated choice on how or if to dope ourselves, and stop with this pious "it's not good for you" tosh. What about McDonald's, and the bribing toys to boot? Are we going to ban crisps for kids, and cola? Well, for God's sake let us at least have a few minerals and vitamins to compensate for our disastrous diet!
In three years, we will not be able to buy many vitamin supplements at all. But there is still time to save some herbal remedies, or one day in the not-too-distant future the pharmaceutical companies could be trying to regulate homoeopathy and aromatherapy. Could there be something financial behind all this, or is it really to guard our health and keep us all safe? I don't think so!
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