Letters From A Tory Daily views on British politics and the Conservative Party from a centre-right thinker who writes letters on his blog to politicians, journalists and many others.

…then they came for the… errr… salt?

From the Guardian:

Over the past few years New York has gained a reputation for taking the health of its citizens seriously – or nannying them, depending on your point of view.  Now a member of the city’s legislative assembly has gone a step further by introducing a bill that would [...]

Dear Ben Lewis,
Everyone loves suing big companies these days but sometimes I wonder whether their claims should even make it to the courtroom.  You are considering suing McDonald’s after being left with horrific burns from a cup of tea when it spilled over your right leg.  You cannot work, drive, or shower easily due to [...]

“They should be able to enjoy a drink in these times of hardship without being penalised by extra costs. They are already paying enough in taxes. Enough is enough.”
- Jeremy Beadles, chief executive of the Wine & Spirit Trade Association, responding to the news that drinkers face swingeing increases which would add several pounds to [...]

“One who drinks, loses his head. And we know people drink here! First one shot—that’s allowed. Then two, three and ‘ok, let’s go.’ I think we should ban getting behind the wheel in an intoxicated state.”
- Russian President Dimitry Medvedev, launching a campaign to crack down on the country’s widespread abuse of alcohol using a new law [...]

“It must have been terrifying for the customers but those things would only have gone off if you’d kept them past their sell by date.”
- one of the bomb squad officers who was part of an hour-long stand-off with a suspected suicide bomber in China, only to find the man was armed with sausages.  Police believed [...]

“Despite the risks of high speed air travel Santa is never depicted wearing a seatbelt or a helmet.”
- Dr Nathan Grills and illustrator Brendan Halyday, from Monash University in Australia, who declared in the British Medical Journal that the image of a fat, jolly and slightly tipsy Father Christmas sends out the wrong message and could [...]

Dear Food Standards Agency,
Now that quangos are coming under increasing pressure, I would have thought the last thing on your mind would be to spout rubbish and attract the fury of consumers and retailers.  Bizarrely, this is precisely what you have done with your recommendation that pork pies, sausage rolls and packs of crisps should [...]

“Meat is a wasteful use of water and creates a lot of greenhouse gases. It puts enormous pressure on the world’s resources. A vegetarian diet is better. I think it’s important that people think about what they are doing and that includes what they are eating. …They will increasingly ask about the carbon content of their [...]

Dear David Cameron,
It is with some disappointment that I note you are still willing to grab a quick headline instead of tackling the underlying causes of societal problems.  I thought that after all your talk of personal responsibility over the past few years, you might be willing to take a different approach to your Labour [...]

“It sets a terrible example in terms of eating healthily and trying to use less packaging and it gives everyone an insight into what sounds like a rather sad life.”
- Claire Latimer, Downing Street caterer, on Gordon Brown’s admission that he subsists on late night ready meals that he warms up in the microwave.

Dear BrewDog,
It is surely no surprise that you have incurred the wrath of various organisations by producing what you claim is the UK’s strongest beer.  However, it is your justification for doing so that I find interesting.  Indeed, you insist that producing the strongest beer in the country will help tackle the increasingly problematic binge-drinking [...]

Dear Barack Obama,
Despite the economic downturn, you are still rightly committed to creating a universal health insurance system in America.  Seeing as it formed the backbone of your election platform, voters would not be particularly impressed if you walked away from such a bold plan.  Even though your reforms could save over one trillion dollars in the [...]

“After the elections, I will take a basket of eggs and come to your newsroom and throw them at you. I don’t like the way you write … I will pelt you and you will see how funny it is.”
- Gordon Brown, threatening the editor of the Daily Telegraph Czech opposition leader Jiri Paroubek (pictured [...]

“People might think I’m nuts, but I like to think it’s Jesus looking out for us.”
- one of Margaret Moran’s constituents celebrating her resignation Claire Allen, 36, who is convinced that she found an image of Jesus on the underside of a Marmite lid. Her husband Gareth said: “The kids are still eating it, but we [...]

“The cows were intended as a visual metaphor for milk which underwent extra filtration processes.”
- the Advertising Standards Authority, dismissing complaints that a milk advert was racist because it showed a white bull getting “purer” by losing its black patches.  The cartoon campaign for Cravendale milk prompted 11 complaints, 10 against a television advert and [...]