Thursday 4 August 2011

Panorama Scoop: The Hypocrisy Of Anne Milton

Scrupulously impartial, is our Annie

If only dodgy Beeb hack Richard Bilton had been more diligent, his dog's breakfast of a Panorama documentary on Monday could have at least boasted of one genuine scoop. That being Anne Milton's bald hypocrisy. From 11:25 in.

"We have to talk to people that we disagree with, but it's really important because, actually, when you look at public health - and alcohol as a public health issue - what we need to do is employ every tool in the box. And everybody, but everybody, has got a part to play."
Which is completely at odds with the parliamentary answer she gave to our esteemed mascot back in June, when quoting chapter 10 of the government's plans for tobacco.

10.1 The government takes very seriously its obligations as a party to the World Health organization’s framework convention on Tobacco control (FCTC). The FCTC places obligations on parties to protect the development of public health policy from the vested interests of the tobacco industry. As a result, the tobacco industry has not been involved in the development of this Tobacco control plan.
So, just to confirm. It's democratic and vitally in the public interest to listen to all sides of a public health debate ... unless ordered not to do so by an unelected body controlled by pharmaceutical interests.

Glad you straightened that one out for us, Anne.


8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is that a skunk on her head?

Frank Davis said...

OT, but your blog mascot wants the death penalty restored:

The death penalty was effectively abolished as a sentence for murder in Britain in 1965, with the last execution taking place in 1964.

Conservative MP Priti Patel said a debate on the subject was long overdue and that she favoured restoring capital punishment "for the most serious and significant crimes".

Fellow Tory Andrew Turner told the paper the death penalty was the "proper punishment" for some serious crimes, while another Conservative, Philip Davies, said he would like to see all murders punishable by death.

Smoking Hot said...

@ Frank

To be fair, Phil was thinking about the Deadful Arnott at the time. :)

Gordon the Fence Post Tortoise said...

Ah well... the silly season approacheth and all sorts of scented lures are dragged around in front of the public to distract...

I wonder if there'd be quite as much interest in the death penalty for judges and barristers who colluded to send an innocent to the rope.

If that'd been the case I suspect there'd be a few missing from the ranks of our most senior judges.

Bring it on though - for acts of egregious political hypocrisy.

Chuckles said...

Ah yes, the wonderful UN Framework Convention scam.

Treaties with nobody that govts. sign so they can implement unpopular and totalitarian legislation by claiming that 'It's an International Treaty requirement, our hands are tied...'

Anonymous said...

Absolutely correct, Chuckles. "We are no longer the sovereign government of the United Kingdom. We have granted that sovereignty to the WHO" UTTER RUBBISH! No parliament can bind a future parliament!

Peter Thurgood said...

A tiny bit off subject perhaps, but I just had to get this out my system: I was watching the One Show the other night, when Michael Crawford was on it, and for some reason the subect of plastic bags and cigarette filters came up.

Their enightened team told the viewers that a platic bag takes a million years (yes, you heard it right) to disintegrate, and a filter tip from a cigarette takes 500 years. Michael Crawford looked at everyone there and asked how on earth could anyone know such facts...There was a few seconds stunned silence - the question was of course never answered.

To satisfy myself about the filter tips, I looked them up this morning, and the general consensus seems to be that they take beween 3 months and 2 years to completely break-down, depending of course on the location.

This is the sort of war we are up against - trying to talk sense to people who just make stories up from the top of their heads - and lying through their teeth.

Good for Michael Crawford, a non-smoker who showed them up for what they are!

mark said...

During the medal giving
any counting members of the
Tabacco lobby in the picture.

Panorama is rather upset about this.