Breaking news.
Whether by accident or design, public health minister Jane Ellison has just revealed what we all secretly thought.
Deborah Arnott, CEO of taxpayer-funded fake charity Action on Smoking and Health, is actually part of the "dedicated" Department of Health team that was last week awarded a Luther L Terry award for Exemplary Leadership in Tobacco Control.
Named after the late US Surgeon General:
They recognise outstanding global achievement in the field of tobacco control, in six categories: outstanding individual leadership, outstanding organization, outstanding research contribution, exemplary leadership by a government ministry, distinguished career, and outstanding community service.
Among those honoured this year was 'The United Kingdom Department of Health’s Tobacco Program[me]' which received the award for 'Exemplary Leadership by a Government Ministry'.
See 2015 Luther L Terry Awards.
This year's awards were presented by the American Cancer Society at a ceremony on March 19 in Abu Dhabi at the 16th World Conference on Tobacco or Health and here is a picture of the "dedicated DH team", tweeted by Ellison earlier this evening.
Arnott is standing second from left, next to Ellison. On the far left (no pun intended) is Andrew Black, tobacco programme manager at the Department of Health.
The other man looks familiar but I can't put a name to the face. Someone may be able to tell me who he is.
Update on Wednesday, March 25, 2015 at 22:42 by
Simon Clark
Here's another picture of Deborah Arnott.
This time she's rubbing shoulders with Anne Milton, public health minister from 2010-2012.
Draw your own conclusions but it's clear ASH enjoys a remarkably close relationship with government ministers – even a Conservative led administration.
How healthy is that?
See Anne Milton - paradise lost and ASH's credibility goes up in smoke.
Article originally appeared on Simon Clark (http://taking-liberties.squarespace.com/).
See website for complete article licensing information.