Public Health Responsibility Deal

Lord Elystan-Morgan Excerpts

Tuesday 14th January 2014 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, there are certainly no grounds for complacency on obesity levels throughout the nation. However, the current data do not support the claim by the National Obesity Forum. In 2007, the Foresight team projected that, based on data from 1993-2004, more than half the population could be obese by 2050 if no action is taken. An analysis based on recent data suggests a flatter trend than the one projected by the Foresight team. I do not agree that we should belittle the responsibility deal. It has many worthwhile achievements to its credit and they are being added to month by month.

[Lord Elystan-Morgan (CB)]

Although appreciating this scurrilous attack on rotundity, does the noble Earl recollect the immortal words of Shakespeare in “Julius Caesar”:

“Let me have men about me that are fat; … Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look”.