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Ever felt guilty when you've tucked into a greasy
fry-up or had an attack of conscience while watching a boxing
match?
Well don't, because according to the Free Society
we should be allowed to do exactly as we please, even if it means
eating ourselves to death!
The radical group is a spin-off from the Freedom
Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco, the pro-smoking
pressure group known as FOREST for short.
The newly formed society is planning a
high-profile campaign against what it says is Government
interference in our everyday lives.
Its targets are measures ranging from possible
tax penalties on fatty foods to moves to ban violent sports and
country pursuits such as fox-hunting.
Its director, Simon Clark, said: "During the
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease crisis we heard about a hotelier being
prosecuted for selling beef on the bone, even when customers had
asked for it.
"And there were plans to ban a cheesemaker from
selling unpasteurised cheese.
"People need to be educated and informed of the
health risks of eating food such as these, the same as with smoking,
but if they choose to ignore the risks then that is entirely up to
them.
"We totally support the idea of health education,
but we believe in education, not legislation.
"We are not promoting the idea that people should
stuff themselves with fried food and dairy products, but if people
want to eat fish and chips every day it is up to them and not up to
politicians to wag their fingers.
"In America we've heard of companies
breathalysing staff not to see if they've been drinking, but to find
out if they've been smoking.
"Some also watch what employees eat for lunch and
if they don't have a balanced diet they're sent to the company
doctor.
"This might seem excessive but what happens in
America tends to creep in here and we want to nip it in the
bud."
The organisation is also against what it regards
as the increasingly litigious nature of our society.
Mr Clark said: "We believe in a free society but
also think people have to take responsibility for their own
actions.
"There is a group of obese people in the US who
are trying to sue food companies.
"But if they are stupid enough to eat that kind
of food over and over again then it is their responsibility.
"Over here ministers may try to introduce a "fat
tax" - a penalty on companies when they advertise unhealthy foods -
but costs are just passed on to the consumer and it's them who
suffer."
The society is also considering campaigning on
issues such as fox-hunting, boxing and fishing.
Simon added: "We do not want to see things such
as boxing banned, because we believe it is a matter of personal
choice.
"We believe adults should be able to do largely
as they please, as long as they are not harming other people.
"They should be free to choose whether they want
to smoke or take part in boxing, angling or fox hunting. The point
is, we want to see less Government intervention.
"There are a lot of politicians with nothing to
do and they are a dangerous breed of people."
Roger Bingham, of the civil rights group Liberty,
said: "You have to distinguish between giving advice and unjust
interference by law.
"If the Government gives us advice which helps us
to make up our own minds about something we do not have problem with
that.
"But when the Government criminalise activities
without good reason and encroach on people's lives that is a more
serious thing and one which Liberty has campaigned against for
years."
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