To quote David Cameron: “We talk about people being ‘at risk of obesity’ instead of talking about people who eat too much and take too little exercise".

I am very tempted to say exactly what I think of Mr. Cameron's attitude but as I suspect that he won't give a damn anyway & coming down to his level is beneath me, I will simply attempt to answer this hurtful and vote-knackering phrase as calmly as possible.

First of all, YES - there are those who are part of the obese section of the population who have nobody but themselves to blame. People who choose to eat junk food and do nothing to counteract its' effects have nobody but themselves to blame if they suffer the consequences. HOWEVER, this IS ONLY ONE PART of the obese community and to be lumped into one category with them is an insult to those of us who do not live that way!

The FACT is that there are many people in the medical profession world-wide who believe that obesity is NOT just a matter of 'what you eat' and 'how much exercise you take'. I realise that if this was proven and the NHS had to start providing treatment for it on top of the treatments available at present, then it wouldn't be very convenient or popular with this or future governments, but it IS a fact.

The truth is that telling people to take responsibility for their weight by eating less and exercising more doesn't COST the government anything so of course it's going to be the party line as the solution! Did anyone notice - it's only when the NHS and the government realised just how much it was COSTING them, that they started to show any concern?

They also seem to be concentrating solely on the young & obese! It's as if they have given up on those of us in the older generation who are overweight and I can't help wondering if this is because they can't simply apply the 'Eat Less/Exercise More' advice to many of us. Many older people who are affected by weight problems simply cannot exercise to any degree. I know - I am one of them. I CAN sit in a chair and use a mini-bike and I DO - but I cannot raise either arm and I cannot even stand without extreme pain. Just HOW would you like me to exercise Mr. Cameron? Our local swimming pool closed for over two years - the only other two pools in the area are known high-risk areas for car theft (I know, I was robbed TWICE at one of them). You expect me to risk the one way I can get out and about?

I have tried all the local private 'health & fitness' clubs (what a misnomer - they are not interested in health for ALL - only for the rich!). Not ONE will offer a pool-only membership for older people and there seems to be no point in paying out of a very low pension and disability allowance for a gym and other facilities I am not going to use! The only pool that even sent a list of membership fees had an 'off-peak' subscription that would have taken up more than a tenth of my pension and allowances!!!!

Yes, there is now a local council pool FINALLY open. However if you want obese people to exercise by swimming then you have to realise that a lot of them will NOT do this in a public pool where we are open to the type of verbal abuse that I have personally suffered for the last 25 years there. Private, more intimate Health Club pools stand idle a lot of the time and would be a perfect place for people who are overweight to start to exercise but what are they doing to help? NOTHING. I can't see the Conservatives pushing these rich-only private clubs to do anything either!

But to get down to the REAL nitty-gritty of this problem... and this is to the present government AND Mr Cameron and his cronies.... You can lecture people all you like... you can go on about how you want to save the kids from a life of misery and ill-health... you can make all these generalised comments that are INCREDIBLY INSULTING to many of us... but until you actually do something about SOCIETY's attitude in this country first, it is doomed to failure. WHY? BECAUSE it appears that not one of you has actually asked WHY people who are overweight and who know they are probably going to die an early death from it don't actually DO something about it... even the ones who COULD.

So I'll attempt to tell you why and it's not because people are gluttonous, lazy so-and-sos. Dieting is against human nature and is bloody hard work and it takes a person who has managed to retain a modicum of self-esteem and respect from others to care enough to try, let alone stick with it for prolonged periods. It takes support from family, friends and the community in general, a more understanding and less prejudiced attitude from the medical profession and a little more TACT from our political leaders.

What is becoming evident though, from reading in the media, is that a frightening number of people, both old and young appear to WANT the 'cure' for obesity to be a 'punishment' as well. They don't WANT there to be a pleasant or easy solution, nor do they want to hear that there might just be other causes for the problem than the obvious ones - they actually WANT to see the obese person SUFFER even MORE than they are doing already. A incipient cruelty is creeping in that is sadly typical of our times. We no longer tolerate differences from the 'norm' even when that norm is becoming totally unattainable for most, instead we attack them physically and verbally - whether it's race, creed or sexual orientation - until the powers that be step in and tell us that we can't do this any longer.

Sadly they haven't stepped in to stop obesity-abuse - WHY? - because it's not in their interest to do so.

The truth is that from school onwards, the fat kid/person is ostracised and made to feel worthless in this society. Everything in the media confirms it - from anorexic models to tasteless comedians through to the high and mighty politicians putting them down. The result is not only going to be a plague of overweight people but a plague of serious manic-depressives (or do we have to say bi-polar these days?) as well. Until something is done to stop the prejudice, the bullying and the discrimination which is now rife in our society then the problem will NEVER BE SOLVED.

This does not need dieticians initially - the problem has gone WAY beyond that - it now needs psychologists and therapists. It needs a large-scale treatment of the mental damage that has been done to people who are overweight to bring about some kind of rekindling of their self-esteem. It needs the LAW to make it as much an offence to criticise people in the street for the way they look as it is to criticise them for their colour or religion. T.V. presenters and comedians are hauled over the coals for making comments that some people find offensive and yet other so-called performerss can make jokes at the expense of overweight people with impunity - SORRY, THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE.

What really makes me LAUGH about this comment from Mr. Cameron is the fact that it is also such an politically stupid move. One quarter of the UK population is according to reports overweight, obese or morbidly obese. Making comments which automatically alienate THAT many potential voters is, to put it mildly, very, very counter-productive for the party. And DON'T tell me that won't happen Mr Cameron - it already HAS.

Sutton Coldfield has, in Andrew Mitchell, a superb Conservative MP in our area - he has been wonderful both to me personally and for our town. I was, for the first time, going to vote for him as a result at the next election. However - and I say this very, very sadly - I will NOT vote for him in the next election while David Cameron is leader of the Conservatives and while I see this attitude towards the obese prevalent in the party.

I challenge ANY politician in Whitehall to come and talk to ME about this problem from the point of view, not of some health boffin who hasn't a clue what it's like to be obese in this world but from the knowledge of a genuine SUFFERER - if they have the nerve. Am I expecting anyone to do it? NO, of course not - they would get a few answers they wouldn't like and were they to act on them they way they NEED to be acted upon, it might just end up costing the NHS even MORE money - to say nothing of more criticism from the 'erosion of civil rights' campaigners. I guess THAT'S out then guys? Yeah, thought so - call me if you change your mind.