A Tory MP has said using astrology to treat patients could help the NHS overcrowding by “taking huge pressure off doctors.”
David Tredinnick said consulting the night sky would “take huge pressure off doctors” and says that in future reading the stars will “have a role to play in healthcare”, the Telegraph reports.
The MP for Bosworth in Leicestershire, who is chairman of the All-Party Group for Integrated Healthcare, went on to say people who opposed astrology were “racist” and “bullies”.
“Astrology offers self-understanding to people. People who oppose what I say are usually bullies who have never studied astrology.”
“Hippocrates said, ‘A physician without a knowledge of astrology has no right to call himself a physician,’
“Astrology was until modern times part of the tradition of medicine. I think it is a great pity that so many scientists today are dismissive.”
And he also admitted he had prepared astrological charts for fellow MPs, although he stopped short of predicting a result for the General Election.
“There would be a huge row over resources,” he said in an interview with Astrology magazine.
“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.”
“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.”
“People such as Professor Brian Cox, who called astrology ‘rubbish’ have simply not studied the subject,” he added also attacking the BBC for being “keen to broadcast the criticisms of astrology.”
“The opposition (to astrology) 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.”
This is not the first time the MP has spoken about the health benefits of astrology, saying it had a “proven track record” in helping people recover.
“I am absolutely convinced that those who look at the map of the sky for the day that they were born and receive some professional guidance will find out a lot about themselves and it will make their lives easier,” he told MPs last July.
As a Capricorn, Mr Tredinnick claims his own astrological chart suggests he was destined to be a “servant of the people.”
“I have a strong 6th house which suggests an emphasis on being a servant of the people – and this is quite a strong indication of health and healing. My Moon-Venus-Jupiter planets (in Aquarius) sit opposite Pluto in the 12th house.”
His comments were criticised by surgeon Jon Stanley, who is standing for UKIP in Westmorland and Lonsdale.
“I think most of my colleagues would be seeing stars too if this came out as Department of Health guidance” he told Breitbart London.
“The MP should be rewarded for services to medicine, demonstrating perfectly how out of touch politicians have harmed the NHS with senseless initiatives over the years.”
The MPs Liberal Democrat opponent in May, Michael Mullaney, said Tredinnick was “letting local people down” with “all his talk about astrology.”
“We need an MP who will speak up on the importance of employment, decent wages, pensions, improving the education system, transport issues, saving green spaces,” he said.
“What we don’t need is an MP who is making our area a laughing stock with his utterly ridiculous obsession with astrology.”
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