BBC stalwart Michael Buerk has suggested that obese people should be allowed to die early in order to save the NHS money.
The former newsreader claims those who are obese may be making a “selfless sacrifice” to stop the country being overpopulated if they die a decade earlier than the rest of the population.
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Writing for the Radio Time, the 73-year-old states: “The obese will die a decade earlier than the rest of us.
“See it as a selfless sacrifice in the fight against demographic imbalance, overpopulation and climate change.”
The former I’m A Celebrity… contestant states that fat people are “weak, not ill”.
He does not believe obesity should be classed as a disease to “reduce the stigma [of] fatness” and encourage people to seek help, adding that “you’re fat because you eat too much”.
Michael also queried Public Health England’s claim that overweight and obesity-related ill-health costs the NHS £6.1 billion a year.
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He wrote: “Who can calculate how much an obese person would have cost if they were slim?
“How much would he or she cost if, instead of keeling over with a heart attack at 52, they live to a ripe, dementia-ridden old age, requiring decades of expensive care?
“In any case, VAT on takeaways, confectionery and fizzy drinks more than covers it.
“The freedom to make bad choices is what personal autonomy, indeed democracy, is all about… who is to say longevity is the ultimate goal in life?
“Let us positively reframe the argument.
“The obese will die a decade earlier than the rest of us; see it as a selfless sacrifice in the fight against demographic imbalance, overpopulation and climate change.
“Give them the facts to make informed decisions; by all means ‘nudge’ all you like, but in the end leave couch potatoes alone. They’re weak, not ill.”
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