July 12 : Robert Sturdy lambasts another
example of the nanny state after court bans vitamin supplements
MEP
Robert Sturdy condemned the European Court of Justice's ruling,
announced today, which will ban 300 vitamins and food supplements
that have been on sale for years in the United Kingdom as yet another
example of the encroaching nanny state.
A legal challenge against
the Food Supplements Directive was brought by health food manufacturers,
in a campaign backed by Mr Sturdy and a great number of constituents
who have written to him expressing their concerns about this proposal.
Mr
Sturdy said the decision by the European Court of Justice was a
victory for, "fat-headed bureaucracy over common sense and
personal choice". The Labour Party has welcomed the decision
declaring "the citizen needs to know what is safe and what
might not be". Unlike the Government Conservatives believe
citizens to have a better grasp of what is good for them than judges.
Conservative
MEPs have launched a campaign website and an online petition on
the issue which has received an overwhelming response.
Mr Sturdy
said: “We all agree that personal safety is of
paramount importance, but many things that are good for you in
small doses are bad if taken excessively, like alcohol. These supplements
benefit thousands of people, banning them will cause considerable
distress and for what purpose? These new regulations ban 1000 mg
vitamin C tablets but there is no way of stopping someone from
taking an unsafe number of smaller tablets. This is an enforced
restriction on our freedom of choice".
