14 DAY TRIAL // Jamie Oliver is not the man to mince his words when he’s got something on his mind, and he’s certainly not about to start on a topic that’s apparently so close to his heart: the NHS in his home country, England. After watching a BBC documentary on sick children, the chef took to his Twitter page to say weekend binge drinkers and the overweight should be fined, the Daily Mail says.
His passionate comments did not fail to prompt an equally passionate reaction from his followers, most of whom seemed to disagree with him. Basically, Jamie said the NHS should not offer the same kind of assistance to weekend binge drinkers and obese people as to, say, sick children and, in general, people who did not have a choice as regarded their health.
“We must start fining these idiot weekend yobbo binge drinkers for their cost to the UK NHS, then spend the money on people that really need help. We can’t afford fixing drunks. People in need have no choice; weekend drunks have a choice,” the chef initially wrote. When a follower asked him if overweight and obese people should get the same treatment, Jamie responded, “Brother, now you are talking. For many it’s an addiction and yes drunks can be as well, I know. So where is the line? Big debate – NHS won’t last forever.”
Most of his followers were then quick to point out to him that one of the rules thanks to which the NHS was functional was that it did not discriminate between patients. However, there were also those who agreed with him that too many millions of pounds were going yearly into offering assistance to people with alcohol or weight issues, whereas those with health problems not caused by themselves had to wait to receive help. A change was much needed, they said.
“Jamie was watching the very emotional program about Great Ormond Street Hospital on Tuesday night and became annoyed that so much money has to be diverted by the NHS to treat people who binge drink. The NHS spends £3billion a year treating alcohol-related sickness according to a recent Oxford University study. Jamie isn’t against people drinking alcohol sensibly but he’s angered by the increase in binge drinking and its cost to the taxpayer,” a spokesperson for Jamie Oliver tells the Daily Mail about the chef’s Twitter outburst.