Rescuing
Democracy in the United Kingdom from our current Elected Dictatorship
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You will
notice that, since New Labour came to power, not a single
leading Cabinet member or party 'heavy hitter' has appeared
on the programme (BBC's Question Time). Spin, not face-to-face
confrontations with the voters, is the Government's chosen
method of communication. Ordinary
people are dangerous. Ordinary people might ask a question
which throws a politician 'off message'; the Cabinet member
might reveal himself or herself to be a human being like
us, and not a programmed android. Worse still, he or she
might tell the truth.
Ann Leslie - Daily Mail, September
16, 2004
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'Five-in-one
jab' advisor has links to vaccine firm
by
James Chapman, Political Correspondent, Daily Mail - August 16,
2004
The
row over the new five-in-one jab for babies intensified last night
as links were revealed between a key adiviser to ministers and
the drugs firm making the vaccine. The chairman of the government
committee that approved the inoculation is receiving financial
support for his work from a company involved in its manufacture.
Professor
Michael Langman, who heads the Joint Committee on Vaccination
and Immunisation, gets funding from Merck Sharp and Dohme (MSD)
for his medical research at Birmingham University. MSD and another
drugs company, Aventis Pasteur, form Aventis Pasteur MSD, which
will supply the five-in-one vaccine in Britain.
The
Department of Health said last night that Professor Langman had
declared all his interests in 'strict accordance' with the code
of practice. A
spokesman said he had not received any personal benefit from Aventis
Pasteur MSD since becoming committee chairman. The professor's
interest involved funding for a trial on colorectal cancer and
advice for chronic digestive disease. All the funding went straight
to the university. "The code makes clear than it such cases
of non-personal interest, it is not necessary for people to stand
aside from the work of the committee," added the spokesman.
Campaigners,
however, said Professor Langman's links with MSD raised 'serious
questions' about the independence of advice being given to the
Govermnent. Jackie Fletcher, founder of the vaccine support group,
Jabs, said: "This raises serious questions about the integrity
of committees, which are always billed as wholly independent.
We have been campaigning for full trnasparency. The powers that
be must be seen to be above any potential conflicts of interest."
Tory
health spokesman, Andrew Lansley, said: "It would be preferable
if decisions on vaccines and their use in the NHS were made in
the same way as for other medicines - with an independent appraisal
by the National Institiute for Clinical Excellence. The Joint
Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation does not have the degree
of independence and transparency required."
Liberal
Democrat health spokesman Paul Burstow said: "After all the
confusion and contradictory advice over MMR and the five-in-one
jab, it is vital parents feel they are being given the best advice.
Reports of a conflict of interest will do little to help concerned
parents make the right choice for their families."
There
have been growing concerns that links between government advisers
and vaccine manufacturers pose potential conflicts of interest.
Last year a Daily Mail investigation showed that at least 19 experts
on committees had interests in firms supplying the triple measles,
mumps and rubella vaccine. The decision to introduce the vaccine
to protect against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, Hib -
a bug which causes meningitis - and polio, was announced last
week.
The
change is being made so that babies are no longer exposed to the
mercury-based preservative, thiomersal, which is contained in
the existing whooping cough vaccine. Health chiefs dismissed as
'baseless' claims by campaigners that the five-in-one vaccine
could overload babies' immune systems. The jab had been safely
given to at least three million youngsters in Canada over seven
years, they said.
Daily
Mail Comment: In other circumstances, it would be of only passing
interest to discover that the key Whitehall adviser who approved
the new five-in-one vaccination for babies, Professor Michael
Langman, is funded by the drugs company that makes the jab. After
all, the pharmaceutical industry helps countless scientists of
impeccable integrity in their research. Professor Langman has
been open about such links.
So
why the fuss? The answer, sadly, lies in the collapse of trust
in this Government. Take its hectoring insistence on the MMR triple
jab, for example, when the Blairs still won't reveal whether their
son Leo has been given the jab.
Examine
the way Labour donor Paul Drayson was awarded a £20million
contract for smallpox vaccine, while competitors hardly got a
look in. Consider how New Labour favours other mega-rich businessmen,
from the Hindujas to Lakshmi Mittal. And how Britain was led into
war on false pretences.
Now
the Government botches its announcement about the five-in-one
vaccine - ignoring concerns about the safety of multiple jabs
- and adds it is dropping the use of mercury in injections, but
not yet. Are parents supposed to feel reassured?
Their
worries aren't a reflection on Professor Langman's scientific
credentials or the honesty of his advice. Aren't they everything
to do with their doubts over a Government up to its neck in mendacity
and sleaze.
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