Super-politico
If you have tears to cry, shed them for London. Lembit is not standing for mayor. 
The city must struggle on somehow bereft of his sumptuous gifts, some of which are listed here:-
Talent Spotter: Lembit masterminded Charles Kennedy's fight to retain the leadership against Ming’s challenge. He was campaign manager and the only MP supporting Mark Oaten as leader. He then nominated Mark as the Channel Four parliamentarian of the year, memorably drooling, “The best thing about Mark is that he is full of surprises.”
Pilot: Broke his back himself trying to fly without an engine in his craft
Charmer: Melissa Mai said: "Lembit's very loud opening gambit was, 'Are they real then?' pointing to my breasts. His former finance described him as a “barfly”.
Modest: Placed mayoral candidates in order of merit saying "Me, Boris and Ken would be a splendid contest. I would bring star value to the campaign.”
Loyal: Wrote to Jack Straw denouncing Derby Lib-Dems local election tactics.
Serious: The paper he insist on reading every day is the Daily Sport.
Consistent: Opposed fox hunting as an urban politician, invented a ‘middle way’ as MP for a rural area. Half-killing the fox...Hunting with cats?
Elegant: especially in his choice of headgear.
Worse than pain
Is it sensible to defend a castle by closing one drawbridge and opening half a dozen others?. That seems the theory of a new drug that seeks to cure by closing down the immune system.
Fine perhaps for dealing with arthritis, which is the immune system attacking the body. But depressing the immune system reduces the body’s ability to fight infection. Existing infections may worsen or new ones may develop. Patients may also experience dizziness, headache, hypertension or hypertension, nausea, wheezing, rash, nausea, inability to breath and cancer.
NICE has also ruled that the drug Orencia is also not a cost-effective.
Inevitably a patient organisation that is generously funded by the Pharmas has hit back. The National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society described the move as "devastating news" that will condemn arthritics to “ a life of pain.” That’s a wild exaggeration. The effects of arthritics pain can be reduced without drugs. The long term risks taken by this new experimental drugs are unknown.
Not one of the media reports included any mention of funding by pharmas of NRAS and precious little about side effects. None mentioned cancer.
Vioxx an anti-arthritic pain drug was withdrawn two years having caused 144,000 heart attacks and strokes. Its use had been strongly promoted by pharmas and patients’ groups. Orencia is a novel medicine whose safety in unproved .
It’s high time that patients’ groups put patients first. One Sunday newspaper is taken a more forensic look at pharmas’ greedy plans to medicalise society in the pursuit of greater profits.
Unbiased Reporting
My interest in cricket is mainly dormant. It moves from general indifference to occasional surges of interest. I cannot really forgive the game for largely displacing the beloved Welsh summer sport of baseball in Newport and Cardiff.
The report of the test match on the Today programme yesterday including a story about jelly beans on the pitch (?), barging, sledging and bad feeling between the team. Not once did it mention the result of the match.
I presume England did not win.
Opik is a particulary unpleasant individual and is a Parliamentary spokesperson for the so called 'Countryside Alliance'.
I remember watching the 2004 finale of the Hunting Act debate and when Opik was shouting nonsense at anti hunt MPs, Tony Banks, who was sitting with Gerald Kaufman and others, said 'be quiet you silly little boy!'
Posted by: Chris Gale | August 03, 2007 at 03:51 PM