Yet more depressing “voluntary or else” bollocks from our big state masters as they now plan to get our employers involved in the hectoring and nannying business :
Employers are being asked to take centre stage in the Government’s efforts to “nudge” the population to become more healthy.
The Department of Health wants companies to formally promote public health messages around alcohol consumption, drug use, fitness levels and eating habits.
Restaurants and food retailers in particular are being targeted to show the calorie content of meals on menus and packaging so that customers are “empowered to make the right choice”.
Unfortunately, larger companies will be lapping this one up as part of the insidious “corporate social responsibility” crap forced on them by the last set of utter tossers.
It not only gives our employers another host of reasons to badger and lecture but also increases their administrative burden – so much for freeing the nations firms from bureaucracy :
Under the proposals companies signing a “pledge” will have to self-report each year, setting out what they have achieved.
We also get a complete view of what areas of interference we can expect state prodnoses to be looking into :
The initiative called the Public Health Responsibility Deal is designed as an alternative to regulation as is part of a wider Whitehall plan to encourage voluntarily changes in public behaviour around health and wellbeing, the environment, paying taxes and philanthropy.
Out of that lot, when was paying tax ever voluntary or do they mean people using lawful tax reduction schemes to avoid getting assraped by HMRC?
Whilst most of the article is the usual government guff, there are a couple of cracking quotes.
Firstly – play nice or we will be back with the big stick says some un-named spokesweasel :
The Department of Health said companies alongside charities and public health experts had a “huge role” to play in improving the country’s health.
“We firmly believe that collective voluntary effort by these organisations can deliver real progress, more quickly than regulation. If this does not work, we will consider the case for introducing change through regulation,” said a spokesman.
Secondly, The Clegg himself demonstrating what a complete and utter twat he is :
Nick Clegg has said: “The challenge is to find ways to encourage people to act in their own and in society’s long-term interest, while respecting individual freedom.”
If that isn’t doublethink straight out of 1984 then I will stand hanging :
In the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, doublethink is the act of simultaneously accepting as correct two mutually contradictory beliefs
Why can’t they just stop interfering, stop spending and leave us all the hell alone?
Bastards!
Hat tip to Telegraph article commentor DevonshireDozer for the post title inspiration.
“Restaurants and food retailers in particular are being targeted to show the calorie content of meals on menus and packaging so that customers are “empowered to make the right choice”.”
Scientific American says ‘This no work!’.