Brooks for Bosworth
The Science Party’s leader, Michael Brooks is standing as a candidate in the UK general election!
The party’s activists hope to oust Conservative David Tredinnick, who has been the sitting MP for Bosworth since 1987.
Tredinnick’s questionable take on scientific issues has provoked the Science Party to contest his seat.
Last year it emerged Tredinnick had claimed more than £700 on MP’s expenses for astrology software and training. He has repaid the money but still insists it was a justifiable expense. His defence was that the NHS might benefit from the input of astrologers.
This year, Tredinnick has been fighting a House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee report into homeopathy, which recommended that the NHS no longer fund homeopathic treatments. 70 MPs have signed Treddinick’s motion to get the report ignored.
It’s a sign that many MPs do not take science seriously enough, Brooks says.
“David Tredinnick is the thick end of the wedge, but there are plenty of MPs who dismiss scientific results,” Brooks says. “When you are making decisions about what kind of healthcare our country can offer its people, that is potentially disastrous.”
Michael Brooks, a freelance writer and broadcaster, is a consultant to New Scientist magazine. He is the author of the bestselling book 13 Things That Don’t Make Sense: The Most Intriguing Scientific Mysteries of our Times (Profile). He is 39, married with 2 children and lives in East Sussex.
