Increased Consumption

Our gradual but inexorable return to the Victorian values of charity for the deserving poor (viz. the rich) and punishment for the shirkers (viz. everyone else) has brought some old friends back to our shores. Tuberculosis, which has been on the decline in the more decadent and socialistic realms of Europe, has been thriving here on the mainland, though fortunately the increase has so far been largely confined to people who were not born in the UK - illegal immigrants, in Modern English. An article in the notoriously pro-Saddam journal, The Lancet, blames the "poor housing, inadequate ventilation and overcrowding" which illegal immigrants generally bring upon themselves; and recommends, of all things, "immediate and long-term political and financial commitment from the government", rather than just kicking more people out of the country. This is, of course, the sort of Stalinist bias which explains why Daveybloke's Cuddly Coalition has felt it necessary to follow New Labour's example of muscular Christianity when dealing with mere science; but the Health Secretary, along with his chums in the health food industry, will no doubt be giving the problem his most scrupulous consideration.