I saw the Sunday morning live show that he's referring to - it was one of the worst examples of intolerance and hatred of the obese on TV, that I've ever seen.

Its a current affairs discussion show. The set up for that particular segment, is that they bring someone in with a 'controversial' opinion and then two other panellists and some 'experts' via phone and webcam also comment. The opinion piece in this case was given by an obese american comedienne (can't remember her name), who was laid into in an awful way by derek Hatton and the other woman on the panel. Rob Lyons came on via webcam, and was also laid into. The tone appeared to be that the obese are disgusting, immoral, costing everyone money and that it is super easy to lose weight, so obese people must be deliberately being gluttons.

Derek Hatton made some idiotic point that if his daughter with 3 children and a job can stay slim and eat 'healthy' then anyone should be able to. Idiot.

I wish Rob Lyons had made a better defense on the show, as both he and the American woman seemed to be floored by the bile and hatred spewing forth from the the other two panellists. His piece here is far better than than the points he tried to make on the show, though I don't think he was given adequate opportunity. The american woman seemed really nice, but was personally attacked for having the view that people should stop hating the obese. When she tried to talk about HAES, the other woman on the panel (super skinny) was looking pointedly at the american woman's stomach and screaming that obese people can't be healthy, they're all costing her money blah blah blah.

I call the show the 'shout at the tv show', as it seems to be very right-wing, government policy biased, with the panel generally weighted on the right wing side of any argument - so I generally end up shouting at the TV. Derek Hatton came across as an idiot and a bully - but who knows where his politics are nowadays.

This segment made me really depressed - there now seems to be an active movement - spurred on by government - to villify various groups of people - the obese, the poor, welfare claimants, the long term sick and disabled. Its a travesty, and I feel really embarrased at the moment to be British.

Lee