Readers might be interested in the below information about Cherie Blair
Many papers report that Tony Blair spoke to EU leaders this month, to oppose the very sensible and modest European Food Supplements directive ( for example The Independent, 20 June, 2005). This directive is a small move to prevent the most fraudulent claims for 'food supplements' and to prevent sale of those that are actually dangerous. It would, for example, prevent the sale of Viridian Trace Mineral Complex, which contains Manganese, Selenium, Boron, Copper, Vanadium, Chromium and Molybdenum. And a good thing too.
Does Tony Blair really believe the new age nonsense of supplement salesmen? Given his notorious defence in the House of Commons, of the teaching of Young Earth Creationism, at the taxpayers' expense, one can believe that he does. Given, also, his apparent difficulties in distinguishing truth from fiction in the matter of the Iraq war, one can believe his capacity for self-delusion approaches even that of George Bush. On the other hand, Blair has made sensible noises about climate change (even if the action has, so far, been limited). Perhaps, in the matter of quackery, he is under the influence of his wife, Cherie Blair, whose dabblings in the mystical leave Nancy Reagan's astrologer in the shade. Much h as been written about this (Libby Purves, in The Times is pretty good, as is Nick Hume ). But my favourite is the following account, quoted from Francis Wheen's wonderful book, “How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World: A Short History of Modern Delusions”
Even the no-nonsense Margaret Thatcher was a devotee of mystical "electric baths" and Ayurveda therapy. But she was a mere dabbler compared with more recent inhabitants of Downing Street. Cherie Blair found her devout Catholicism no impediment to flirtations with New Age spirituality - inviting a feng-shui expert to rearrange the furniture at No 10 and wearing a "magic pendant" known as the BioElectric Shield, which has "a matrix of specially cut quartz crystals" that surround the wearer with "a cocoon of energy" to ward off evil forces.
The catholicism - if not Catholicism - of her tastes was further demonstrated in 2002 by the revelation that she employed a former member of the Exegesis cult, Carole Caplin, as a "lifestyle guru". Through Caplin, the prime minister's wife was introduced to an 86-year-old "dowsing healer", Jack Temple, who treated her swollen ankles by swinging a crystal pendulum over the affected area and feeding her strawberry leaves grown within the "electro-magnetic field" of a neolithic circle he had built in his back garden.
It was long assumed that Tony Blair, who wears his Christianity on his sleeve, did not share his wife's unorthodox enthusiasms. But that was before he and Cherie had a "rebirthing experience" under the supervision of one Nancy Aguilar while holidaying on the Mexican Riviera in the summer of 2001. The Times's detailed account of the prime ministerial mudbath is worth quoting at some length:
"Ms Aguilar told the Blairs to bow and pray to the four winds as Mayan prayers were read out ... Within the Temazcal, a type of Ancient Mayan steam bath, herb-infused water was thrown over heated lava rocks, to create a cleansing sweat and balance the Blairs' 'energy flow'.
"Ms Aguilar chanted Mayan songs, told the Blairs to imagine that they could see animals in the steam and explained what such visions meant. They were told the Temazcal was like the womb and those participating in the ritual must confront their hopes and fears before 'rebirth' and venturing outside. The Blairs were offered watermelon and papaya, then told to smear what they did not eat over each other's bodies along with mud from the Mayan jungle outside.
"The prime minister, on holiday just a month before the 11 September attacks, is understood to have made a wish for world peace. Before leaving, the Blairs were told to scream out loud to signify the pain of rebirth. They then walked hand in hand down the beach to swim in the sea."
Although Mayan rebirthing rituals are not yet available in Britain through the National Health Service, some of Cherie Blair's other peculiar obsessions have already been adopted as official policy. In January 1999 the government recruited a feng-shui consultant, Renuka Wickmaratne, for advice on how to improve inner-city council estates. "Red and orange flowers would reduce crime," she concluded, "and introducing a water feature would reduce poverty. I was brought up with this ancient knowledge."
Two years later, the government announced that, for the first time since the creation of the NHS, remedies such as acupuncture and Indian ayurvedic medicine could be granted the same status as conventional treatments. According to the Sunday Times, "The inclusion of Indian ayurvedic medicine, a preventative approach to healing using diet, yoga and meditation, is thought to have been influenced by Cherie Blair's interest in alternative therapy." An all too believable suggestion, since Cherie was a client of the ayurvedic guru Bharti Vyas and officiated at the opening ceremony for her holistic therapy centre in London.
The swelling popularity of quack potions and treatments in recent years is yet another manifestation of the retreat from reason and scientific method. According to a 1998 survey by the Journal of the American Medical Association, the use of homeopathic preparations in the United States more than doubled between 1990 and 1997. In Britain, by the end of the 20th century the country's 36,000 general practitioners were outnumbered by the 50,000 purveyors of complementary and alternative medicine - some of whom receive the seal of royal approval.
The Queen carries homeopathic remedies with her at all times. Princess Diana was a devotee of reflexology, the belief that pressure applied to magical "zones" in the hands and feet can heal ailments elsewhere in the body. Prince Charles has been a prominent champion of "holistic" treatments since 1982.
Most alternative therapies, homeopathy included, are closer to mysticism than to medicine. This may explain their appeal to the British royal family, whose survival depends on another irrational faith - the magic of hereditary monarchy, so fiercely debunked by Tom Paine and other Enlightenment pamphleteers.
It has even been alleged, according to the Daily Telegraph, that “Cherie Blair did not allow her youngest child, Leo, to have the controversial MMR vaccine and instead asked a New Age healer to wave a "magic" pendulum over him” “Peter Foster, the convicted fraudster, claims that Jack Temple, a former market gardener with no medical qualifications, was also asked by Mrs Blair to swing his crystal pendulum over a lock of the Prime Minister's hair and some of his finger-nail clippings.” It must be said, though, that the source of this information, plausible though it may be, is less than reliable.
source:
(scroll down to the article titled "Tony Blair supports quackery and fraud")
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There has been a bit of discussion on MN recently about how it is possible to agree with people on some things and not about others. I think that is reasonable and fair. I don't think it is possible or necessary to agree with or support someone on every single issue or opinion, but it is fine to agree with what they say on a particular subject. I hope that makes sense...
It does make sense and I agree
Also, it's possible to be generally very sensible and astute yet still have blind spots.
Also to be sensible and astute and married to someone whose opinions you have to bear in mind.
Not only is it possible it is thevery nature of being human. Nobody is perfect and even good people are susceptible to kool aid.
It's ok to discuss Cherie Blair and bear in mind the many contexts and situations she will have been making decisions in.
Absolutely
For the record I am not saying that Cherie Blair is a bad person or that people should not write to her if they want to.
I am expressing concern about her past record for promoting pseudscience and quackery and her (past?) association with people in new age cults.
It can happen that people who have been involved with quackery and cults can be great allies, providing of course that they have relinquished the woo woo. This is extremely important in relation to issues agound gender recognition as all kinds of cultic magial thinking has been promoted as real and scientific fact.