Conservatives: We need a wider inquiry into torture allegations

Commenting on the news that the Attorney General has asked the Metropolitan Police to investigate allegations of torture in relation to Binyam Mohamed, David Cameron said:

"It is vital that we get to the bottom of whether Britain has been complicit in torture either advertently or inadvertently.

"I'm still not convinced that we will do that purely through an Attorney General or a Police investigation; I think we will need some form of wider inquiry to find out whether the right procedures and processes were in place to prevent Britain from being complicit in torture.

"We think you could get either a judge or a former permanent secretary to hold an inquiry; clearly these are sensitive issues that concern national security.

"You have to have arrangements to make sure that things that would be harmful for the national interest aren't published. But the key thing is getting to the bottom of what happened and making sure that if mistakes have been made in the past, ministers are open and clear about that and remove this potential stain from Britain's name."

Greens Condemn Mass-Medication decision

The Green Party today called South Central SHA's decision to fluoridate Southampton's tap water "dangerous, undemocratic and potentially illegal."

Stuart Jeffery, the party's health spokesperson, described fluoridation as a "sticking plaster with side effects solution."

The Greens further criticised the Southampton Primary Care Trust for "failing to provide adequate NHS dentistry for its residents."

A recent Freedom of Information request (1) revealed that 76% of Southampton's NHS dentists are not taking new patients.

And the controversial Southampton decision came on the very day that new dentistry data was released, which showed that less than half of adults are using NHS dentists and the proportion of children accessing NHS dentistry in Southampton has fallen by 2.4% over the past two years (2).

Stuart Jeffery continued "Trying to fix NHS dentistry problems by unethical and potentially illegal mass medication is simply wrong. Southampton needs to fix its access to dentistry.

"Having less than a quarter of its dental practices taking on new patients means that many poorer people are forced to go without dental care. The new statistics have also shown the proportion of children accessing NHS dental care is falling.

"The Green Party wants a proper dental health strategy founded on education, good diet and access to free dental health care. Southampton has failed to provide this, and is now resorting to a technofix that won't solve the problem but will breach everyone's universally-acknowledged human right not to be medicated without their consent."

Mr Jeffery, a health service manager, explained: "The European Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine distinctly states that individuals have the right not to be medicated without their consent. Fluoride has well documented and dangerous side effects, and it is clearly wrong to expose people to these against their will.

"This appalling decision also seems to have been taken without any regard for the voice of local people, the majority of whom were opposed to mass medication with fluoride."

Notes:

1. FOI response to the Green Party dated 3rd Feb 2009 showed that of
Southampton PCT's 25 NHS dental practices only 6 were accepting new
patients in December 2008.

2. See [http://www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/primary-care/dentistry/nhs-dental-statistics-for-england-quarter-2:-30-september-2008][1].

[1]: http://www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/primary-care/dentistry/nhs-dental-statistics-for-england-quarter-2:-30-september-2008

URL: http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2009-02-27-fluoridation.html

Published and promoted by Tracy Dighton-Brown for the Green Party of England & Wales, both at 1a Waterlow Road, London N19 5NJ.