Frances Maude - Immigration, Obesity and Directorships

In December, 2005, on BBC Radio 4's The World at One, the Conservative Party's Chairman, Francis Maude, said this:

"Immigration has been… fantastically good for this country... It’s been good economically, and has contributed to us being a much enriched country culturally".

At the Nationalist Alliance website Merlinjim commented thus:

"Fantastically good for the UK?' Let's take a look at what immigration has actually brought to the UK: Racial tension; social fragmentation; racial prejudice; religious fragmentation; race relations quangos costing the country billions; interracial strife; racial mongrelisation; urban ghettos; over-population, totally destroying the whole structure, industry, economics and ecosystem of the country; fabricated job titles costing the country billions; uncontrolled drug crime; uncontrolled gun crime; loss of racial identity and pride; repression and exploitation of indigents to favour aliens; race riots, looting and burning; Muslim terrorists and suicide bombers!

So, exactly what are all these 'fantastic' things that immigrants have done?"

On 4 January, 2006, the Conservative Leader, David Cameron, gave a speech to the independent charitable foundation, the King's Fund. In this speech, he said:

"As well as increasing the supply of healthcare, we need to reduce the demand… Government has a responsibility to promote public health… Modern marketing techniques can be used to great effect to tackle the root causes of preventable ill-health just as irresponsible marketing techniques can have the opposite effect…

As Britain faces an obesity crisis, why does WH Smith's promote half-price chocolate oranges at its checkouts?… So many consumer businesses could do more to promote healthy diets and lifestyles… Good health is good business.

Today, almost one in three children aged between two and ten are overweight and the figures are growing faster than anywhere else in Western Europe."

Since February 2006, Francis Maude has been the Chairman of the Mission Marketing Group, an ad agency whose clients include Virgin Cola, Walkers Crisps and Carlsberg. Which products don't exactly 'promote healthy diets and lifestyles' or help out in the non-obesity stakes, now do they?

The Mission Marketing Group owns Big Communications whose client list includes the alcopop, WKD. The ads for WKD have been cited by campaigners as some of the most concerning regarding underage and binge drinking.

In September 2006, a WKD ad was one of the first two ever to be banned by the Advertising Standards Authority. The ASA said that the adverts breached regulations by being likely to have a strong appeal to minors.

In February 2004, The Evening Standard reported thus:

"Former Conservative minister Francis Maude is to chair one of the City's top spin doctors. He will work five days a month and be paid £80,000 a year as head of the board at Incepta, owner of Citigate Dewe Rogerson - one of the biggest gainers from the Tories' privatisations.

Maude, 50, candidly admitted today: 'My relationship with the firm goes back some way to when Dewe Rogerson, as it was then, did most of the public relations work on the big privatisations… Probably the biggest piece of work they were involved in directly for me was the sale of the Government's second tranche of shares in British Telecom in 1991 when I was Financial Secretary to the Treasury.'

That sale raised more than £5bn for the Government and Dewe Rogerson was paid a six-figure fee.

Maude lost his seat in the 1992 General Election and moved into investment banking, first with Salomon and then Morgan Stanley. At this point he dealt with Citigate's Jonathan Clare, who was advising HSBC on its takeover of Midland Bank."

A list of this top Tory turd's directorships can be found here.