Prime Minister's Questions is an opportunity for back bench Members of Parliament to ask important questions about matters which affect their own constituents; most Members do just this, though not all.
Today, my own MP, David Tredinnick, got to his feet and, rather than saying anything relevant to his constituency, asked a ludicrous question about homeopathy. As many people will know, homeopathy is a practice which claims to treat medical conditions by the administration of vanishingly small quantities of chemical substances. Also as many will know, serious studies of the efficacy of homeopathic remedies have repeatedly shown that they are useless, any claimed benefit being almost certainly due to the placebo effect.
Tredinnick has been an advocate of homeopathy for many years and has also lobbied for astrological charting to be made available on the NHS; it has been reported that he has claimed that blood does not clot under a full moon, a patently stupid assertion. He has expressed support for the use of homeopathy in veterinary practice too. Despite the fact that his views have been rubbished by every serious scientific expert, Tredinnick has continued to espouse them and has, himself, rubbished the experts.
His constituency is a safe seat and this goon has been the Member of Parliament for almost 32 years; for no good reason, the local constituency party has continued to support him despite his insane views, a 'cash for questions' scandal in 1994 and an attempt to exempt himself from having his expenses made public in 2007.
Is it not terrifying that anyone can be represented by someone such as this ?
No comments:
Post a Comment