Discussion of fluoridation by the main party leaders is well overdue mostly because A... The Labour party are afraid to get into a discussion about it because it would just mean further embarassment and B... the Conservatives dont even understand it or the laws that were forced through parliament by the Government in 2003. Consequently the NPWA, UKCAF, WMAF have all been working their fingers to the bone to alert the public to how they are being bamboozled.
Jonathan Eyre at Leeds FoE has been doing sterling work in recent weeks, not least when he covered for me on this Campaign when my computer was knocked out by a DOS attack. Currently he is following on from the good work initiated by Pauline Johnson also of Leeds and is writing to candidates across the city and asking their views on water fluoridation etc. the idea being that those who support or promote fluoride use whether in Water supplies, childrens school milk or even supermarkets selling fluoridated salt are not to be recommended as potential MPs, Councillors etc etc.
So far we know from replies that the Lib Dems object strongly to fluoridation along with the Green Party and UKIP. The Conservatives object in principle to mass medication although they dont seem too clear about the Water Act 2003 which gave power to the SHA/PCTs to compel water companies to add this muck. They will need to be watched. We wrote to them a couple of weeks back asking for clarification of their position but so far only silence.
Labour did not bother to reply at all and like most of the pro-fluoride lobby, they dont wish to get involved in arguments that they cannot scienticall justify. One might expect Labour candidates to be more gung ho about this policy but i notice that they are not even mentioning it in their manifesto as far as I am aware at the time of writing. but one would suppose they would start promoting it strongly if they are re-elected and there are a still a few pence left in the NHS piggy bank. Available cash of course does seem to be increasingly unlikely who ever should become the government and the promotion of fluoride will take a great deal more cash than its already absorbed. The unscrupulous and misleading rubbish circulated by the SHA's and PCTs has been exemplified by the sham consultation in Southampton where the Advertising Standards Authority upheld complaints brought by HAF and UKCAF and will be keeping a close eye on them in future.
Peter Poole in Brighton FoE however received a very promising rebuttal of any attempt to fluoridate his town. and this from their own Labour Candidate. Well done Brighton who were luckier than my fellow constituents here in Pendle. I was rather dismayed when I learned that our own sitting Labour MP actually thought water fluoridation was a good idea although on what ground i do not know. I have asked a few times about this but all he would ever say was that he had read the evidence. Clearly he must be privvy to evidence the rest of us do not have as he has never produced any.
At least the lack of funds promises to delay any further Labour Party expansion of fluoridation and a Hung or Balanced Parliament should also slow it all down even more or at least long enough for us to ring the death knell on the whole sorry, immoral, pointless and expensive waste that we have endured so long. Lets hope that this outbreak of common sense in Brighton is sustained, virulent and spreads like wildfire amongst Labour's ranks.
Its also very sad that in a land with an allegedly Free Press, we should have to wait for the Press in Iceland, Scandinavia and Russia to tell us the truth about the fluoride ash from the Icelandic volcano. So safe is this "Naturally Occuring" fluoride that all the farm animals have had to be taken indoors to live on last years dwindling hay and silage and water drawn from wells because surface water and snow melt is heavily contaminated. OK the levels of deposition here in the UK are not inches deep as they are in Parts of Iceland but that is no reason why we should have to endure a government willing to force this poison upon us when even its own specially convened committee who produced the York Report were completly ignored (as usual).
Fluoride is so safe in fact, that it softens the animals bones to the extent that the poor creatures cannot even stand up and of course all their teeth fall out. Its true to say that the dosage is the important thing but its a bit rich when such a defence emanates from the pro-fluoride lobby and its sycophants who have absolutely no idea how much fluoride we are already getting from our diet but are ever eager to give us more and more whether in drinking water, table salt or even childrens school milk.
As the election draws ever nearer, there is no better time to write, email or phone your local candidates and ask them for their position, and if you find writing letters to these people to be difficult or tedius, you can at least copy and if necessary, adapt the letters sent out by Jonathan and see what replies you get. You could also try sending copies to your local and regional Press and Media, you can reach a lot of people that way and a lot of people is what we need in a country with a voting system that ensures that the party with the lowest vote, still gets elected with a stonking great majority. No Wonder the power hungry candidates are so afraid of a Hung or Balanced Parliament, that would really spoil their fun and force them to enter into proper debate and take notice of expert opinion etc etc but i digress just a tad.
The message to get over to candidates the media and the electorate is actually quite a simple one Namely, that fluoride is a very nasty toxic substance whatever its source, it doesnt even protect peoples teeth but actually damages them and much else besides. And finally of course that any friend of fluoridation is no friend of ours or the environment. And, if MPs etc really want to find favour with the electorate, in the hopefully sustainable future, they will have to abandon Junk Science and the too cosy relationships with vested intrests and those not too particular about how they dispose of toxic waste. They can start by opening their minds a little and meditating on the idea of the precautionary principle. In the meantime hang in there everybody. Good Luck in all your Campaigning.
Brian Jackson
