EUROPE WRONG TO REGULATE VITAMIN SUPPLEMENTS - ROBINSON

1.48.06am BST (GMT +0100) Sun 23rd May 2004

Stephen Robinson - "National Health should be National!"

Lib Dems say recent EU directives on food supplements are over-restrictive. Their MPs and MEPs have argued to keep perfectly safe vitamins and minerals in our shops

"Some subjects are best controlled at European level, but others are best left to national governments", says Lib Dem spokesman Stephen Robinson. "Most of the supplements have been used safely in Britain for years".

Liberal Democrat MPs also pressed Health Minister Melanie Johnson to justify the government's support for the food supplement directives, but despite strong cross party opposition, they were passed by the Government.

"If nothing else", said Stephen, "this episode demonstrates that votes in the European Parliament do affect our daily lives and it is therefore important to vote in the European election on 10 June. We hope that the current Lib Dem Euro MP for this area (Andrew Duff) will be joined by a second one (Chris White) to speak up for our area".