I am Nostradamus, well it was pretty obvious

I blogged on Sunday that "Get ready for NHS treatment charges as this government start a "war on obesity". They have attacked the rights of smokers and all but excluded them from public life, drinkers are being pushed the same way, next it will those who dare to eat more than Nanny New Labour says, who will be under attack. This is health fascism from a deeply undemocratic, fascist government."

Oh come on NotaSheep, it's not that bad! Really? Did you see this article in the Times, also on the Toady programme this morning. Apparently "Drinkers in middle-class areas are more likely routinely to consume “hazardous” amounts of alcohol than those in poorer areas, research published today shows.

Social drinkers who regularly down more than one large glass of wine a day will be told they risk damaging their health in the same way as young binge drinkers.

The figures will be used by the Government to target middle-class wine drinkers and to make drunkenness as socially unacceptable as smoking.

Dawn Primarolo, the Public Health Minister, said: “Most of these are not young people, they are ‘everyday’ drinkers who have drunk too much for too long. This has to change.”"


Read the whole article and you will see that "The research showed that “harmful drinkers” — defined as those drinking over 50 units a week — tend to live in the more deprived areas of the country, with Manchester topping the league table at 8.8 per cent of adults, followed by 8.1 per cent in Liverpool.Both hazardous and harmful drinking patterns are contributing to increasing alcohol-related ill-health and pressures on health services across the whole country, the researchers said." Not that you would know it from BBC/NuLab's mouthpiece Toady programme which concentrated on bashing those nasty middle class types drinking half a bottle of wine at home. It would be so 'orrible to criticise those wonderful working class drinkers.

From the same Times article comes this lovely piece "The figures will be used by the Government to target middle-class wine drinkers and to make drunkenness as socially unacceptable as smoking. Dawn Primarolo, the Public Health Minister, said: “Most of these are not young people, they are ‘everyday’ drinkers who have drunk too much for too long. This has to change.”" This has to change does it Dawn? I can think of many more things that need to change before we start to "have a go" at at Mr and Mrs Middle Class sharing a bottle of wine with dinner. Although they will be easier to police than city centre yobs taking drugs and committing some criminal damage and of course far easier to impose a "health tax" on or to eventually fine. Don't laugh, this government will go along this path.

See, they are coming for you drinkers and soon you may have to say:
First they came for the smokers
and I did not speak out
because I was not a smoker
Then they came for the drinkers
and I did not speak out
because I was not a drinker
Then they came for the obese
and I did not speak out
because I was not obese
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me

As always Devils Kitchen takes a somewhat stronger line than me. Read his piece and you will feel the rage.


Finally for some light relief here's some middle class drinking, 1969 style from Withnail and I...