The Gloves are Off!

Nanny hates the fact that people do not comply with her strict health and hygiene rules. She deplores the fact that people outside of Islington drink, eat and smoke to excess.

In Nanny’s view, the time has come to “take the gloves off”; she intends to intervene in peoples’ private lives, yet again.

She has therefore decreed that the National Health Service is to offer every patient in Britain a personal diet and fitness regime; she intends to force individuals to take greater responsibility for their own health.

Note the word "force", unless I have missed something we are still living in a democracy in this country. Democratically elected governments cannot "force" their citizens to alter behaviour patterns, or is this an admission by Nanny that she has abandoned the democratic process?

These enforced "Personal health plans" will also offer advice on sexual activity, and will become the centrepiece of the Government's White Paper on public health.

Ministers are, at the moment, stressing that the individual health improvement programmes will be "voluntary". However, we all know that as far as Nanny is concerned legislation swiftly follows on from any "voluntary" code of practice.

Patients will be set specific goals and monitored by their GP, only if they "volunteer" for this "health MOT"; so Nanny’s "officials" say.

A trial run of the "volunteer" programme was recently carried out. Here we see an elderly "volunteer" undergoing his six month "health MOT".

In a splendidly Orwellian development, the hapless "volunteers" will be chased up 24 hours a day by "helpful" emails and phone calls. Nanny will not let you rest, eat, sleep or have sex without reminding you that she is watching.

The concept of people being allowed to merely volunteer for these "MOT’s" is laughable. The people who are in Nanny’s sights; the overweight, the drinkers, the smokers and the lethargic are the least likely to volunteer.

In the end Nanny will enforce this intrusion into individuals’ private lives, and we will all be monitored 24 hours a day; you have been warned!