NEWS

19 . 10 . 14 / 21

Labour pledges wait of7 days for test results

No figs,nogig, saysRobbie’s rider

ANDREWMARR and theX Factor presenter DermotO’Leary are amongcelebrities defying protestsover the sale of foie gras ata butcher’s shop owned bya friend of Jamie Oliver.The television presenters

are buyingmeat from JackO’Shea despite protests inPrimrose Hill, northLondon. O’Shea says he isdetermined to bring foiegras from France for hisclients. Oliver signed aphotograph of O’Shea inhis shop to show support.Marr, a BBC presenter

whomoved to PrimroseHill last year after sufferinga stroke, said: “People havewanted a butcher inPrimrose Hill for a verylong time. Forme theabysmal treatment ofchickens in factory farmingis a far bigger issue.”O’Shea said: “Eighty-

five per cent of people herewant foie gras. Jamie[Oliver], Mary Portas,Dermot O’Leary, [thecomedian] Russell Howardand AndrewMarrwouldn’tcome in if they objected.”Production of foie gras is

illegal in the UK because ofthe suffering of geese asworkers push pipes downtheir throats three times aday to pump in grain andfat, causing their livers toswell to up to 10 times theirnormal size. Birds havedifficulty standing, tear outtheir own feathers andcannibalise each otherfrom stress. Selling foiegras is legal.Peter Egan, who lives

nearby and plays Hugh“Shrimpy”MacClare inITV’s Downton Abbey, wasappalled. “It dismaysme tothink that someone Iadmire asmuch as I doAndrewMarr should comeback from a life-changingstroke only to embrace anappetite that gives no suchoption to the animals killedto satisfy his taste buds,”he said. “Only humans,celebrating their carelessappetite to titillate theirtaste buds, subjugate allother creatures tohorrendous violence.”O’Shea said: “ If I

thought an animal wasbeing abused I wouldn’tsell it. I went out to thefarm in France and [when]the farmerwhistles for hisgeese they come gallopingdown the hill for feedingtime. They sit on his lapand he gets this thingand pops it down theirgullet.”But Egan hit back. “Mr

O’Shea should try havinghis gut stuffedwith grain,through a hose, beforedeclaring it doesn’tbother the duck [sic].”Jane Frampton, 33,

who founded the LondonVegan Actions groupwithsister Phoebe, 23, said:“Wewill carry on until westop him.”

Stub out that ecig:pubs, cafes andhotels ban vapingTHE estimated 2m people whouse ecigarettes instead oftobacco face widespread banson their use in coffee chains,shops and attractions.Starbucks confirmed this

weekend it has banned the useof ecigarettes in its outlets,joining rail firms and airlinesthat already prohibit vaping.The announcement follows

the publication of a report bytheWorld Health Organisation(WHO)in August that recom-mendedthatecigarettesshould

notbeusedindoors.Criticssaidthe report was flawed andmisleading.In addition to Starbucks, All

Bar One, Caffe Nero, Pret AManger, KFC and Nicholson’spubs confirmed that they havebanned ecigarettes.The National Portrait Gal-

lery, the Tate Gallery, the RoyalOpera House and the NaturalHistory Museum are amongmain attractions that alsoprohibit their use. Some hotels,includingClaridge’s inLondon,have also introduced bans.Michael Clapper, chairman

of the Electronic Cigarette

IndustryTradeAssociationandco-founder of Vapestick, anecigarettecompany,said:“Thebans are short-sighted. Thevapour release from electroniccigarettes is not harmful tobystanders...Thiswillalienatecustomers who use electroniccigarettes.”Ecigarettes are battery-

poweredproductscomprisingacartridge of liquid nicotine, anatomiser and electronics. Theyturn nicotine, flavourings andother chemicals into a vapourthat is inhaled. Cigarettes cankill because they deliver nico-tine with tobacco, which has a

wide range of carcinogens andtoxins. Ecigarettes are signifi-cantly less harmful becausethey do not burn tobacco buttheWHOreportsaidthevapourcontained some toxins and itwas so far unknown if theymight cause “an increased riskof disease and death” amongbystanders.Some experts, including

Ann McNeill, professor oftobacco addiction at King’sCollegeLondon,saidthereportfailed to acknowledge that theecigarette toxins were a tinyfraction of those found incigarette smoke or that the

concentrationswere too low topose a significant health risk.Clive Bates, a former

director of Action on Smokingand Health, the anti-tobaccocharity, said the report hadfocused on implausible risksand failed to acknowledge thehealth benefits for smokerswho switched to the products.“The danger is that they put allthese restrictions in and youjust end up with more peoplesmoking,” he said.Some companies have

banned ecigarettes because ofconfusion over the risks. Aspokesman for Mitchells &

Butlers,whichrunsAllBarOneand Nicholson’s pubs, said:“Although we realise that thefumes are just vapours andnon-harmful this is not clearlyunderstood by everyone andcan lead to confusion forothers.”Large employers including

HSBC, BP and many publicsector organisations, havebanned ecigarettes, as havemost supermarkets.Despite selling a wide range

of ecigarettes and vapingproducts, Harrods also bans itsstaff and customers fromvaping in the store.

Jon Ungoed-Thomasand Rochelle Mayner

Support60%

Oppose27%

Would you support or oppose aban on people using ecigarettes

in indoor public places?

What the public thinks

Would you support or oppose aban on smoking in public open

places, such as park?

Don’tknow13%

Support50%

Oppose39%Don’tknow11%

Source: YouGov questioned1,966 adults on October 16-17

SEX, drugs and rock’n’roll haslong been the formula for anyself-respecting rock star buttoday’s health-conscious mus-iciansaremorelikelytodemandskinned papaya, rye bread andsoyamilkwhen on tour.The requests have been

revealed in a compilation of“contract riders”— the shop-ping lists artists provide tovenues — to be released in abook next month. Despite theparty image of bands on tour,lists from some of the world’sbiggest stars suggest a healthspamore thanadressingroom.Elton John, David Bowie,

Black Sabbath, Robbie Will-iams,UsherandDJShadowareamong thosemaking demandsthat were not only free ofalcohol but remarkably low oncalories too.While Williams, the former

Take That star, showed a pen-chant for figs andkiwi fruit, DJ

Shadow’smust-have itemwasginseng capsules while Bowieseemed satisfied with somelemons and hot water.Usher shunned booze and

cigarettes in favourof“non-fatyoghurts, 20 protein bars,grilled white fish and a cup ofbrownrice”.Elbowrequesteda“non-polluting, non-GM andorganic” hotmeal for 17.Gary Farrow, agent to stars

including Ozzy Osbourne andElton John, said: “There hasbeen a progression towardshealthier requests. Elton’srider is just tea and water andnot much else. The Stones Iknowbringdifferentteas.Theyare getting healthier becausethey are getting older.”He added: “Younger bands

are also healthier these days.It’s a different environment towhat it was in the 1970s and1980s.”However, although there

has been an apparent trendtowards clean living on tour,

some demands remain aswacky as ever, ranging fromJamieCullum’sinstructionsfor“ice with no straight edges” toGrahamCoxon’s request for an“old tin bath”. One can onlyimagine what the Blur starmighthavewantedwith“spareundergarmentsinaselectionofsizes and false facial hair”.For Westlife it was a pair of

inflatable sumo outfits thatwere the must-have items ontheir 2003 Unbreakable Tour.“Iamtold thesuitswere tohelptheboysburnoff energybeforegoing on stage,” explained SueRichmond, the author ofExcess All Areas.She said her project, which

took riders that featuredmonthly in Q magazine, wasinspiredbyVanHalen’s famousdemand in the 1980s tohaveallthe brown M&Ms removedfrom the sweet bowl.“It has since been said this

request was added by theirmanager because they had a

very technical setup and ifthey’d left the brownM&Ms init, meant they hadn’t read therider properly,” she says.Today’s stars have been

known to be just as specific.The singer Alison Goldfrappneeded a selection of glittery

eyelashes—“butnoblueones”— while Kasabian asked for“four small black combs nosmaller than six inches long”.The Happy Mondays

revealed a distinct lack ofwill-power after requesting a bottleof absinthe with the instruc-

tion that “on no account mustthis be placed in the dressingroom before the show”.Others proved easier to

please. When the Prodigyplayed the Creamfields festivalin Cheshire in 2006, theysimply asked for “a packet ofCrunchy Nut cornflakes, sixbowls, six spoons and a bottleofDomPérignonchampagne”.Somemakemoreoutlandish

requests, leaving venue man-agers toguesswhether theyarethebutt of a jokeorexpected tomeet the precious demands.Iggy Pop said it would take

sevendwarfs togreethiminhisdressing room to make himhappy, while the Offspring’srider included edible under-wear and one gallon of sul-phuric acid.Paul Stokes, associate editor

of Q magazine, said: “Oftentour managers are just takingthe mickey out of people whoworkatvenues.Butontouryouare cut off from reality in a

bubble and demanding ablow-updolloratinbathcouldbedowntothewarpedsenseofhumour you get from cabinfever.“I remember the Automatic

asked for a shrine to DavidHasselhoff [the TV star of Bay-watch] and one venue actuallydid it for them. They’d put aload of pictures of the Hoff inthe corner and the band werelike, ‘Wewere only joking.’”Nowadays new bands make

more from gigs than recordsalesandStokessayswithmoretime on tour riders are lesslikelytoreflectapartylifestyle.“There are bands from the

mid part of the last decadeonwardswhowouldhavespentmost of the year on the road,”he said. “If you are doing athree-month tour you mighthaveafewpartiesbutalotofthetime it’s a case of going to bed.Those that try to party everynight tend to go off the rails.”

@hansummers

Robbie Williams, left, and Usher are among the stars who do not demand alcohol, Jamie Cullum, seen with wife Sophie Dahl, specifies ‘ice with no straight edges’, while Alison Goldfrapp wants a selection of glittery eyelashes

Hannah Summers

TheBritishMedicalAssocia-tion (BMA) said it supportedbans in line with itsno-smoking policy. ProfessorSheila Hollins, chairwoman ofthe BMA’s board of science,said: “Stronger controls areneeded on where ecigarettescan be used to protect othersfrom exposure, to ensure theiruse does not undermine exist-ing restrictions on smoke-freepublic places ... and to guar-antee the use of ecigarettesdoes not reinforce the normal-cy of smoking behaviour.”Additional reporting: Julia Beil

@jonungoedthomas

Battle ofPrimroseHill overbutcher’sfoie gras

Sharon Feinstein

ONE of Britain’s leadingcancer doctors has warnedthatNHSmanagersare“failingpatients” by making radio-therapy the “poor relation” intreating the disease.Peter Kirkbride, chairman

of the government’s radio-therapy clinical referencegroup, accused NHS Englandof having planned funding forthe life-saving treatment onthe “back of a fag packet”

and of failing to consult hispanel of experts.He said investment in

cancer drugs has left radio-therapy a “Cinderella special-ity” although it cures morepatients than chemotherapy.“I think NHS England is

currently failing the radio-therapy community and con-sequently failing patients whoeither are, or could be, treatedwith radiotherapy,” he said.“It is due to two things: a

failure of funding and a failureto seek and take clinicaladvice.”Kirkbridehasbeenworking

with Lawrence Dallaglio, theformerEnglandrugbycaptain,to secure £5m a year to fundclinical trials in stereotaticablative radiotherapy (Sabr),which fires targeted x-raybeams at cancer cells.Kirkbride and Dallaglio say

a deal was agreed in thespring between them, CancerResearchUKandNHSEngland

that would have seen 700extra patients treatedeach year and differentcancers tackled.The Sunday Times

revealed in August thatNHS England has decided to

invest just £1m a year in Sabr,prompting Dallaglio to meetDavid Cameron to urge him tointervene.Kirkbride said: “Particu-

larly galling was the fact thatthe advisory body to NHSEnglandhas not been involvedatanystage in thedecisionandevennowwehaveno ideahowthat sumwas reached.“It is someone’sback-of-a-

fag-packet calculation. NHSEngland and the governmentare not using the doctors andhealthcare professionals whothey have appointed to advisethem on radiotherapy.“The best people to make

decisions that are in the bestinterests of patients are clini-cians, not politicians.”Cameron has previously

said the cancer drug fundshould not just be used fordrugs but for all effectivetreatments. However, theproportion of cancer patientsreceiving radiotherapy inEngland is only 38%. InSweden it is 47%.“It should be the cancer

treatment fund,not thecancerdrugs fund,” said Kirkbride.“What we’re looking for is

more equitable funding for

cancer treatments. It’s notthat we want more than ourfair share. It’s that radio-therapy is aCinderella special-ityandhasthepotentialtocurelots of patients safely.”TonyMurphy,a laymember

of the radiotherapy clinicalreference group whose wife isundergoing treatment forcancer, backed Kirkbride.He said: “When you com-

pare it to the cancer drugsfund, the money given toradiotherapy isminuscule.”Sean Duffy, NHS England’s

national clinical director forcancer, said: “It is right thatearly diagnosis of cancer isimportant” but added that “arecord number of patients arebeing referred for treatment”.“When cancer is diagnosed

it is specialist doctors whodecide what treatment tofollow — surgery, radio-therapy, chemotherapy or amix,”Duffy said.“Proven new radiotherapy

treatments are encouraged inEngland — for example, allpatients now have access tointensity-modulatedradiationtherapy, the latest in inno-vative care.”

@shippersunbound

Tim ShipmanPOLITICAL EDITOR

NHS failing patients by makingradiotherapy ‘Cinderella’ service

Kirkbride: ‘NHSfailing patients’

PATIENTS suspected of havingcancerwill have towait only aweek for test results under aLabour government, Ed Mili-band promised this weekend.The pledge will be part of a

drive by the party to improvethe country’s cancer survivalrates, which lag behind manyother European countries.In an interview with The

Times, Miliband said the costwould be met by a £150m-a-yeartaxontobaccocompanies.“One in three of us is going toget cancer during our lifetime— that’s incredibly scary. It’s amassivekiller,”hesaid.Cancercharitieswelcomed the plan.The Sunday Times, which

has launched a campaign to

improvecancercare, includingfaster diagnosis, revealed ear-lier thisyearthatsomepatientswere waiting for up to 50 daysor longer for diagnostic tests.More than 3,700 patients

waitedmore than 104 days fortreatment in 2013, in breach ofa government target.NHS England figures pub-

lished thismonth showed that14,300 patients waited sixweeks or more for key diag-nostic tests in August,including cancer tests.Experts say faster diagnosis

is key to improving survivalrates and requires greaterawareness of potential symp-toms,effectivereferralsbyGPsand access to diagnostic tests.Some patients may require arange of tests before theircancer is diagnosed.Therearewidegeographical

variations in providing speedyaccesstotestsandresults,withpatients in some of the worst-performing areas of thecountry facing significantlylonger waits. Delays in inter-preting the results of the testare also common.Miliband said aLabourgov-

ernment would spend £750mover the fiveyears to2020 . It is

estimated that this could save10,000 lives a year.Dr Giles Maskell, president

oftheRoyalCollegeofRadiolo-gists, said: “We very muchwelcome the focus on earlydiagnosis of cancer which, ifthese ambitious plans can berealised, would be very goodnewsforpatients.Weareespe-cially pleased to see the recog-nition of the crucial role ofimaging in diagnosis.”Maskell said the main

obstaclewouldbetheshortageof radiologists in the UK. Hecalledforsomeofthemoneytobespentontrainingmorestaff.However, a Conservative

party spokesman said: “Youcan’t have a strong NHS if youforgetaboutthedeficit.Laboursimply can’t be trusted todeliver improvements incancer care.”

Editorial, page 26@jonungoedthomas

Jon Ungoed-Thomas

ST DIGITALJoin our campaignfor better cancer carein hospitals

the.tim.es/nhsreform O’Shea: ‘geese not harmed’

For those about to rockMore tea, vicar?Black Sabbath, Elton John, Goldfrapp, Usher

Weneed our five a dayLee “Scratch” Perry, Moby, Hear’ Say, Robbie Williams

Champagne loversThe Chemical Brothers, LCD Soundsystem, the Prodigy

You want what?A tin bath for Graham Coxon; seven dwarfs for Iggy Pop;edible underwear for the Offspring; inflatable sumo suits forWestlife; ice “with no straight edges” for Jamie Cullum

NHSREFORM

Beat cancer

REX/KEVIN WINTER/DAVE M. BENETT/JIM DYSON