Thursday 9 January 2014

Government Stumbles Upon A Guaranteed Winner

I knew 2014 couldn't be worse than an intensely problematic 2013 for Puddlectote Inc, but I didn't expect it to bring such joy so early.

Today we've seen the launch of Action on Sugar, a body which has proven every slippery slope prediction ever made by any freedom-minded blogger or activist in the area of social liberalism true. Not only does it prove comprehensively that Simon Chapman is a weapons grade fool ...


... but it also shows those of us who have been warning of comprehensive control of everyone's lives via a tobacco control template as having been 100% correct. Yes. They really are going after doughnuts now, as Farage mentioned in Stony Stratford that glorious but wet day in 2011.

This, on top of public health making utter fools of themselves - to the condemnation of just about everyone - over minimum alcohol pricing. To paraphrase Belloc, "when you have lost your Guardian readers drown your empty selves, for you will have lost the last of public health".

Just check out the universal condemnation under the line at yesterday's pitiful CiF article attempting to buy into Sarah Wollaston's gob-smacking delusion and the BMJ's ridiculous conspiracy theory.
Who is minimum pricing aimed at? It wouldn't be the Working Class by any chance? Those poor benighted souls who aren't able to make their own life choices and need to have decisions imposed upon them by a benificient authority figure who went to a good school! 
It's an obviously daft idea. All it would do is squeeze more money out of poor, vulnerable people. The fact that an element of the medical profession is pushing it raises real concerns about the calibre of the people who are becoming doctors these days. 
It's not sensible. What's sensible about increasing my cost of living right now? How about the state shuts the hell up telling adults how to live their lives (within legal bounds). The arrogance and condescension is unbounded. 
I think it's more the power of public opinion and democracy in action. Most people I come across do not want the price of alcohol increased. The move for a minimum price came from campaigning by a very narrow lobby of unelected "experts". 
As others mention, it's a stupid idea, promulgated to appease the middle class at the expense of the poor. 
Setting aside for a moment the shrill, moralising aspect that has become so pervasive in recent years, such a policy will quite clearly disproportionately affect those on lower incomes. And not just alcoholics - everyone who fancies a few drinks now and again. I don't understand why the Guardian would consistently come out in support of such a regressive policy.
And my personal favourite.
How about an article criticising the power of the public health lobby, who repeatedly trade on the public's trust in doctors, but with no consideration given to issues of the wider economy, cost of living and personal freedom - works both ways you know.
Quite.

Public health have pissed off hundreds of thousands of vapers recently, but their politically-illiterate insistence on escalating the minimum alcohol price debate against many millions more happy drinkers - especially in such an absurd and fundamentally flawed manner - is an exercise in stupid self-humiliation. I almost feel offended that they're doing my job for me, to whom should I complain?

You see, there has been a crescendo of silence from politicians in support. Wollaston and her tiny band of alcohol prohibitionists have totally misjudged the mood. They saw others being listened to and, for some strange reason only they will understand, have decided to go 'all in' on minimum pricing like a drunk poker player in a hurry for a piss but only holding a pair of twos.

Does the government feel threatened? Not at all. They will know very well that the policy is a cast iron vote loser and are sitting smugly waiting for Labour to ally themselves with public health as they always do. It's almost like a double dare. But even Labour politicians are not taking the bait as far as I can see.

It seems that, like Guardian readers, no-one is biting, no-one is fooled.

When the cabinet sits down to pick through the policies they are being pressured to support at the start of this new year, rejecting minimum pricing will be one of the easiest things they have to do, it's a no-brainer.

It's not often politics is that simple, but when presented with a deeply regressive policy even Mad Tories and illiberal Lib Dems can recognise that in rejecting minimum pricing they've stumbled upon a flawless winner.

Carry on 2014, I'm loving you so far!


4 comments:

Ivan_Denisovich said...

Agreed. But I am still paying for the puritanical prohibitionist Ian Gilmore and the mendacious Marxist Nick Sheron to spout their authoritarian bile courtesy of an uncritical,and in the case of the Daily Telegraph, supportive media. Why should any of us be forced to pay the salaries of these manipulative monomaniacs? I am certain that the nation would benefit massively from their replacement by more honest medics who would just get on with the job they trained for and are qualified to do. No wonder we have to look overseas for doctors. Our highly paid home grown specimens are too busy playing politics to do their jobs. They do nothing for the diminishing reputation of their profession.

J Johnson said...

Another one? Maybe they can help their friends here out http://www.worldactiononsalt.com/ .All these orgs seem to be joining together to try and steal more of our tax money.This one seems like a natural partnership.:( I often ask myself did anyone think banning smoking on flights would lead to this?

Kath Gillon said...

http://uk.lifestyle.yahoo.com/video/sugar-tobacco-054019214.html I have just watched this video clip from Sky news via Yahoo and nearly spat my early morning cuppa (without sugar admittedly) all over the screen, this Austrailian (of whom I have never heard) seems to be beating us over the head with his arguments about sugar. But what I found even more scary was that Eamonn Holmes did not even challenge this man, as I say I have no idea what the interviewee's qualifications are nor if he has medical training, but he did not seem to be offering any actual evidence other than a glib "I was 40lb's overweight I gave up sugar and made no other changes in my life and lost it all" nothing other anecdotal evidence this does not seem very scientific to me.

If it looks like a witch hunt and smells like a witch hunt it's usualy a witch hunt.

FrankC said...

"It's not often politics is that simple, but when presented with a deeply
regressive policy even Mad Tories and illiberal Lib Dems can recognise
that in rejecting minimum pricing they've stumbled upon a flawless
winner."


Except that they didn't stumble across this winner. The almighty EU won't let them impose minimum prices. The only way to raise prices is to increase alcohol tax and that would hit the chatterati.