Tory MP says astrology will solve NHS crisis – and those who disagree are racist

“There would be a huge row over resources. However, I do believe that astrology and complementary medicine would help take the huge pressure off doctors. Ninety per cent of pregnant French women use homeopathy. Astrology is a useful diagnostic tool enabling us to see strengths and weaknesses via the birth chart. And, yes, I have helped fellow MPs.

“I do foresee that one day astrology will have a role to play in healthcare.”

And the Tory MP had strong words for those who dare to suggest that the state should not fund treatments that, by his own admission, are “not be capable of passing double-blind tests”:

“People who oppose what I say are usually bullies who have never studied astrology.

“They never look at it. They are absolutely dismissive. Astrology may not be capable of passing double-blind tests but it is based on thousands of years of observation.”

Tredinnick also, for some reason, claimed that opposition to astrology was superstitious and had racist undertones:

“The opposition is based on what I call the SIP formula – superstition, ignorance, and prejudice.

“It tends to be based on superstition, with scientists reacting emotionally, which is always a great irony.

“They are also ignorant, because they never study the subject and just say that it is all to do with what appears in the newspapers, which it is not, and they are deeply prejudiced, and racially prejudiced, which is troubling.”

He is not the only politician to believe in publicly funded homeopathy treatments. Natalie Bennett, leader of the Green Party, has previously gone on record as saying that while she does “not believe that homeopathy works as they describe it”, she does think does there is a “place on the NHS for homeopathy”.