Ban cheddar cheese sandwiches – MP

John Spellar, Labour MP for Warley and former defence and transport minister, asked a curious written question that was answered on Wednesday:

Hospitals: Food

Mr Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he plans to ban the sale of (a) tea and coffee with sugar and (b) cheddar cheese sandwiches in hospitals. [5340]

Anne Milton: No.

Thanks to Nina Lakhani.

Update: And thanks to Alex Massie and Guto Dafydd for the latter’s theory as to what on earth the question might be about:

Might actually be a succinct question. It might be the case that tea with sugar / cheddar sandwiches contain more calories than some ‘junk food’ that might conceivably be banned from hospitals. Point being that crisps and chocolate bars are being discriminated against for being in shiny packaging.

Well … not succinct, exactly – maybe beating around the bush by an MP with an inflated sense of his own cleverness?

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• http://gutodafydd.wordpress.com/ G Dafydd

  Might actually be a succinct question. It might be the case that tea with sugar / cheddar sandwiches contain more calories than some ‘junk food’ that might conceivably be banned from hospitals. Point being that crisps and chocolate bars are being discriminated against for being in shiny packaging.

  Well…not succinct, exactly – maybe beating around the bush by an MP with an inflated sense of his own cleverness?

• http://twitter.com/Paradisenost Paradisenost

  John Spellar is not trying to ban anything. A NHS organisation, I think in Wales, has banned cheese sandwiches and sugary tea to be sold in cafeterias in its hospitals. The story was reported in The Times just before the last bricks went up on its paywall. Daft decision arising from a mistaken desire to encourage healthy eating by stopping people getting things they want with their own money while visiting friends and relatives. The MP is asking if the NHS in England has any plans to be equally daft. Apparently not.

• Rick Role

  Question to Which the Answer is (Literally) No.

  Perhaps Speaker Bercow could improve PMQs by requiring it to be played according to the rules of Twenty Questions.

• BrianLuxury

  The accompanying photograph is of a cheese toastie, is it not? Why is this? Have cheese sandwiches been banned already? I think we should be told.

• zandeman

  That’s probably the purpose of the question. The NHS in Wales has banned confectionery and fatty foods, including cheese sandwiches, from hospital vending machines. Not a bad idea in my opinion. It doesn’t interfere with the freedom of the customer to leave the hospital grounds and buy all the fatty, sugary food s/he wants, but why should the NHS supply it?

• http://twitter.com/True_Belle True_Belle

  Whilst the arguments about nourishing cheese sandwiches( made with brown bread and watercress) carry on, and are debated untill the poor patients starve, what then?

  You know, a bit of what you fancy does you good, doesn’t it?

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