Unworthy comments

Firstly, some schools of thought maintain that we are all, at any given moment, ultimately in a situation of our own making, while others at the opposite end of the spectrum claim that none of us could possibly have avoided being in our present state.

The latter opinion is now apparently tending to gain ground for medical reasons way beyond my comprehension.

I am unsure which philosophy I find more alarming and depressing.

Secondly, if free will does in fact exist, it is clearly relative both morally and more generally.

It is very easy for one born with a platinum spoon in his mouth, to be more ignorant of the possible devastating effects of deprivation and abuse during childhood, adolescence, and even later life.

Thirdly, it is widely believed that certain individuals, regardless of personal history, have a predisposition to chemical dependency; few wish to be addicts, with all the medical, social, domestic, occupational and legal complications that entails.

Fourthly, how would Mr Cameron categorise the hundreds of thousands – if not more – who have insidiously had their lives ruined by habit-forming “medication”?

Fifthly, why limit it to drug addicts and the obese, some of whom presumably have glandular problems and so on.

We can all conjure up countless other illnesses and injuries which may, or may not, be the fault of the sufferer.

Sixthly, if facilities were available to treat all those in question, if there were not widespread cuts occurring, and if unemployment was not about to soar, even the non-actively dependent would be unlikely, all else being equal, to come anywhere near the top of most lists of candidates for jobs.

I feel that such simplistic and superficial nonsense is unworthy of anyone who, for better or worse, has become a British Prime Minister.

DAVID DIMENT, Riverside Court, Oxford