Earlier this year, in another role, I was surveying the residents of Bosworth on local issues. Amongst the questions I was asking them was this impartial gem: ‘Given that David Tredinnick has spent hundreds of pounds of taxpayers’ money on astrology software to aid him in his constituency duties, how does this affect your likelihood of voting for him in future?’ Mr Tredinnick has also advised surgeons not to operate when there is a full moon, and is a keen supporter of homeopathy. Many of his questions raised in the House of Commons have concerned the virtues of alternative medicine.
Does the moon really cause people to behave differently? No. That was easy. (Photo: David Vázquez.)
His constituents were stunned. There were a few of course who stood staunchly by him, the colour of his politics being to their liking. But many interrupted me with guffaws of ‘what the?!’ and a fabulous selection of expletives. That many members of the British public cannot name their MP sadly comes as no surprise. However, how many of us constituents know what our own MP gets up to in Parliament? What causes they put their weight behind? The audience they command to voice their own idiosyncrasies?
David Tredinnick is Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Integrated Healthcare. He is on the health committee and science committee. He is not in those capacities as a medical professional or scientist, but he does hold a great deal of sway. He has the power to shape policy driven by his own opinions, not research or fact. He is putting his trust in mere sorcery, over established medical practice, and innovative medical and scientific research. He has spoken out recently in support of astrology within healthcare, citing 20 years of research.
On the one hand, his comments are quite amusing. Politics loves vivid characters, and this survey produced hysteric giggles in my office, and much joking for weeks afterwards about our astrological compatibility in the workplace. The other viewpoint is dismay and disgust. This is not funny. This is an MP who puts superstition on a pedestal and takes it into the heart of Government. His position on the APPG influences policy. There are fewer important areas of policy, with the potential to touch us all, than healthcare.
People in office are powerful – their mere opinions can have great consequences. Their opinions. Not research, or results, or proven processes. Governments need to be held to account. The BHA, its members, and the voting public have a duty to hold MPs to account. We may disagree on key issues, my local MP might not be from my favourite party, however when an MP voices support for a matter as trivial as astrology, I as a constituent would be gravely concerned.
Horoscopes are fun. Superstition, mostly harmless. Years ago in the police force, my colleagues and I would observe, ‘it’s a full moon tonight,’ expecting a troublesome night ahead. But no one could seriously justify extra staff on a lunar monthly basis, without clear evidential proof correlating a rise in crime with the phases of the moon. It’s madness. Some alternative therapies can yield results. Several provide comfort. If a new treatment could demonstrate beyond reasonable doubt its medicinal effect, it deserves recognition. Research and results are the only dependable source. The bizarre homeopathy David Tredinnick champions, and his reliance on astrology, are not things the taxpayer should be footing the bill for. Mr Tredinnick is welcome to consult his horoscope in the daily papers, but he is foolish if he wishes to take it into work with him. Especially when that work is in Government.
I expect civil servants are to be above reasonably competent, integrity and full of wisdom . Not someone still seeking for divine guidance of any sort.
Technically speaking, Tredinnick is not a civil servant.
Civil servants are career bureaucrats who work in government ministries and agencies and are appointed for life or until they retire or cease working in the public sector.
Mr Tredinnick is an elected representative for the people who reside in the parliamentary constituency of Bosworth.
In his case, the electors of Bosworth can end his period of office as an MP at the 2015 general election.
Let us hope one of the local political parties will stand a credible candidate to replace him.
Everything I can see suggests that he paid the money back without being asked to do so. If that is the case, I think a clarification may be in order. Firstly to avoid the potential for action by the MP, but also so that the overall message is not diluted by a fact that can be disputed.
One of the troubles is that non-scientists haven’t the first idea what goes to make a scientist – what detailed understanding is required, what mathematical ability, what crystal clear logical thinking, what peer review processes must take place before anything new can be agreed, what sheer quantity of exhausting work is necessary to qualify. I have known examples of people who think that it’s all empirical and so must be rote-learned. They have no concept that new laws and principles can be derived rationally and mathematically from existing ones. They could never get their head round the rigour and attention to detail required. If they could, then they would not have the nerve and arrogance to equate their own personal ramblings with the statements and opinions of proper grown up scientists.
What does science say about the Lunar Phase?
Before dismissing Tredinnick’s call to consider astrology as an option, he is not out of line with recent scientific experiments.
One study in Barcelona (1984) suggests a correlation between admissions tor gastrointestinal bleeding and the full moon. Another study (2014) at Rhode Island Hospital found that aortic surgery at the waning full moon resulted in better survival and shorter hospital stay. A third study (2014) on male subjects suggests that blood pressure, HR and fitness recovery correlate with the lunar phase. In 2013, in a retrospective study Professor Cajochen found a correlation between sleep patterns and the Moon’s phases.
The influence of the full moon on the number of admissions related to gastrointestinal bleeding
The influence of seasons and lunar cycle on hospital outcomes following ascending aortic dissection repair
A study on the physical fitness index, heart rate and blood pressure in different phases of lunar month on male human subjects
Evidence that the Lunar Cycle Influences Human Sleep
There are more studies showing similar correlations and there are also studies where scientists have been unable to find correlations. In the interests of scientific inquiry and advances in health, this is a topic worth investigating further.