Oh dear oh dear, Nanny's minions running what they believe to be the people's republic of Liverpool clearly have far too much time on their hands.Liverpool council have taken umbrage at McDonalds over their "Happy Meals".
Seemingly the children of Liverpool are exceedingly fat, and the council are blaming McDonalds and their Happy Meals for this. According to Nanny the fact that Happy Meals offer a small toy, is the cause of Liverpudlian kids buying all those "nasty" Happy Meals which are making them fat.
As such, Nanny's chums on the council (in the "Scrutiny Group", how very sinister and Orwellian) want to introduce a by-law banning the sale of fast food accompanied by toys.
Lib-Dem councillor Paul Twigger said:
"The Scrutiny Group is recommending that a by-law be enforced to stop the circulation of free toys associated with junk food promotions.
We consider it is high time that McDonald's are challenged over their marketing policies which are directly aimed at promoting unhealthy eating among children.
Childhood obesity is a dire threat to health in this country and it needs to be nipped in the bud.
I am not impressed that McDonald's have introduced so-called healthy options to its menu.
Children are directly targeted with junk food and McDonald's use the Happy Meals to exploit the pester power of children, against which many parents give in.
In most Happy Meals, the toy is sold with a burger along with high-calorie fries and milkshakes.
This kind of junk food is habit-forming and the Happy Meals are cynically aimed at younger children."
Isn't it funny how the "Liberal Democrats" are more often than not anything but "liberal" or "democratic" in their actions and desires?
Maybe they should change their name to something that more accurately reflects their true feelings?
Any suggestions?
OK folks, here's why this idea is bollocks:
1 The fatness or otherwise of the children of Liverpool is the responsibility of their parents, not the state.
2 The fat kids will be eating all sorts of shit, Happy Meals are not the prime cause of their obesity
3 We live in a free market economy, people can buy what the fark they like; and companies can market their products in any way that they see fit (so long as it is not misleading)
4 Free toys and gifts etc have been included with products (eg cornflakes etc) for decades; they have not been the cause of "fatness" before, and are not the cause of "fatness" in this case.
Nanny should keep her nose out, we have the right as consumers to buy what the fark we want!
So presumably this particular council has not sold off any school playing fields?
ReplyDeleteOr they are a bunch of hypocrites.
Now let me see, which is more likely......
Liberal Democrats are nothing more than socialists in a different wrapper. Both want total control of the individual from cradle to grave. The Liberal Radical party at least believed in freedom of choice.
ReplyDeleteKen, you keep delving into one of my all time favourite films - Falling Down - we need to send Mikey Douglas round to a few town hall council meetings methinks.
It seems to me that we took thousands of years to evolve and develop upper brain functions but, Nanny is trying to turn the evolutional clock back and stop us from thinking.
ReplyDeleteParents must take responsibility for their off spring. It seems many parents feel guilty because they leave their kids in care during the day so that they can go out to work...like good little drones as required by Nanny....When they get home after work they feel so guilty they over compensate and give in all the time. I often see mothers in supermarkets asking their little five year old what the family will have for dinner, the kid always says something like pizza or some other processed junk.....Kids have also been given elevated status in soaps and TV advertising where the kids tell adults what to do and when....Climate change is a good example of this.
So the LibDems are not Liberal or Democratic and you want a suggestion as to a more suitable name for them....May I suggest they are also called Nu Labour as I see few differences between the parties, including the Conservatives...They have all gone for Blair clones for their leaders, they all seem to want to manage the people rather than govern and they all seem to think they should interfere and control every aspect of our lives.
Makes you proud to be British doesn't it.
What I would really like to see is someone actually prove that Macdonalds food is bad for you. (And I don't mean by making fictional films.)
ReplyDeleteI suspect they won't be able to, and what we are dealing with here is simple snobbery.
Liberal democrats are nothing more than socialists full stop. I was a member of the Liberal party when the SDP took it over. I quit in disgust and subsequent events have confirmed my worst fears.
ReplyDeleteThere is no resemblance between the current bunch of wannabe communists and the radical liberal party of the 50's and 60's.
People have lost weight and reduced their cholesterol by eating McDonalds- debunking the Morgan Spurlock 30 days over-eating propaganda "documentary".
ReplyDeleteInteresting to note that the Lib Dem dismisses entirely the healthy options at McDs. What does he have against milk, fruit juice and fruit? Using his same logic we could accuse McDonalds of inspiring children to eat healthier by offering them toys to go with their milk and fruit.
But then, that way he wouldn't have an excuse to try and extend his power over other people's lives.
When it comes to Liberals, I have to admit to a gap in my knowledge / education / understanding.
ReplyDeleteI used to be a member of an organisation that consisted of people who would be considered classic Conservative voters. However, a significant number of them were members of various Liberal groupings. When they gave their views under a Liberal umbrella they seemed to make eminently-sensible statements based on common sense. I don't have a political axe to grind but heavy reliance on common sense is not a trait I associate with Liberal Democrats (Some of my socialist friends are of the opinion that common sense doesn’t exist, which I assume explains why programmes like multiculturalism, social engineering and positive-discrimination quotas have to be tried for 10 years before their effects are realised).
It's sometimes argued that the Liberal Democrats aim to be all things to all people. Perhaps it's true and maybe that's why I have difficulty making sense of them.
I couldn't agree more with what you've said.
ReplyDeleteBut as is my analytic wont, I would like to draw your attention to the 'nip in the bud' qualifier the apparatchnik emitted.
This means that they don't have any obesity 'problem' at all.
They are only hoping for one.
Ah, the Liberal Party as it existed (or seemed to be) in the 60s - so different to today!
ReplyDeletegrumpy -
Nice acronym and entirely apt. A round of applause from me.
Many years ago I read a report of a motor sport event in the middle of America somewhere. The reporter, unforgettably, described the location as 'Not quite the arsehole of the world but only a little way up the gut."
I don't think the Lib Dems are in even that relatively warm and comfortable position thought there may be many who don't see them for what they appear to have become. Actually I'm not even sure they realise what they have become.
I note the speak-orifice is quoted as saying: "This kind of junk food is habit-forming ..."
So, does that make it A class C drug? If so what is the food equivalent of Methadone?
Has anyone checked the personal funding of these critics? They could be in the pay of the competition.
It seems that Mr. Twigger may not yet have twigged what he is really suggesting. Or perhaps he runs a competitor franchise. Who knows? It really should not matter.
Nice one grumpy!
ReplyDeleteNotice that Twigger used "I" more than "We" in his diatribe. Is he a "decision maker" charged with "sending a clear message" to those elements of society that jumped up Stasi twerps like him disapprove of? When will these oiks be made to realise that they serve the public in a democracy not the other way around?
Today I ate two Mars bars, one after the other, in protest at the demise of giant ones by some stupid bureaucratic nanny. I then raised two fingers in salute to Mr Twigger and wished him and all his kind to hell in a barrow.
Upon reflection, how nice it is to hear a well paid Lib/Socialist spouting off about the evils of fast convenience food. Doubtless his little Tabithas and Tarquins (unless he is of the Lib/Dem rent boy, dressed as footabll player hiring persuasion) only eat the finest organic tofu burgers - made by the minimum waged au pair at home.
ReplyDeleteI don't like McDonalds, because of the shite food it serves, and the fact that the outlet is a chav magnet. My family don't eat there, but I would never suggest that others should not. If a person wants to feed their kids at McDonalds all week, rather than cook a decent meal at home I may think they are lazy, stupid bastards, but they are free to act exactly how they wish in that respect (until there is a burger ban) as that is the nature of a 'liberal' free society; something that seems to have escaped the attention of so-called liberals.
Now now. Back in '88, I was homeless. I'd been kicked out of hotel by a psychopathic mangeress, and I had nothing but a backpack and their duvet.
ReplyDeleteI'd tried sleeping on the freezing Winter's night in a Kensington Gardens gazebo, but the Royal Parks Police took me down to the station about 2 am and searched and fingerprinted me.
About 5 am they kicked me out, and I walked to Charing Cross.
The McDonalds was just open, and there I was, cold and poor, with a duvet around my shoulders.
I ordered several hot breakfasts, and the MANAGER of the McDonalds said "Sit down, SIR(!) and I will bring your meal to you."
So let's not hear any more bolshy crap.
Pieter,
ReplyDeleteYour almost Dickensian tale has brought a tear to my eye. The poor waif turned out by a heartless capitalist landlord (you did not mention if you had been paying your rent on time etc) and then fed by a caring (minimum wage no doubt and equally oppressed) worker at a hostilery that is mocked by the middle classes.
I wonder what the manager's reaction would have been if you had no money? Want to bet you would have been out on the street again pal, so don't romantisce the situation.
McDonalds is a crap fast food outlet, but if people choose to eat there - or in your case had no choice but to eat there - that's their choice and no business of the government in any shape form or fashion.
hey anon-FOAD.
ReplyDeletePieter,
ReplyDeleteFOAD? Is that some text type abuse abbreveation? I have no idea. However, if I see you destitute in the street I shall ensure I spare a few farthings for your hat to enjoy another happy meal. Hope you like the toy this time around.