Well, if like me, you wondered when you heard the news that Brian Haw had travelled to Germany for medical treatment why our NHS wasn’t good enough for him, the mystery has been solved.
Insane to the end, Haw didn’t go to Germany because they have better doctors, he went there because they had louder quacks.
The full story is on ‘gimpy’s blog‘ which covers homeopathy and other pseudo-science. Here’s the relevant extract:
Following Mr Haw’s diagnosis, fans of David Icke, a notorious conspiracy theorist, took charge of fund raising for his treatment in Germany, via the Shen Clinic. The Shen Clinic believes in, and has promoted, the theories of Tulio Simoncini.
Dr. Simoncini’s therapy uses Sodium Bicarbonate to destroy the fungus colonies which he believes are the cause of both cancer and mastatasis[sic]. Although controversial, many have personally witnessed the dramatic drop in cancer markers following his therapy, even in some advanced cases. He also recommends the use of natural and complementary medicine such as nutrition, homotoxicology, acupuncture and others.
Mr Simoncini is banned from practising medicine and has fraud and wrongful death convictions in his native Italy.
Despite the clarity of the evidence against Mr Simoncini, his theories and his outcomes, Mr Haw moved to Germany to undergo therapy. Reports in April of this year asserted successful treatment.
Brian Haw is currently living in my flat in Germany while having treatment for his lung cancer – the good news is that he had an MRI scan this week and he’s on the mend – by the way, his treatment consists of intraveneous Vitamin C and Sodium Bicarbonate (not at the same time!) – THIS IS ILLEGAL IN THE UK !!!! – WTF !!!! – IT’S VITAMIN C !!!! – AND BAKING SODA !!!!
This was sadly optimistic.
Indeed.
Tony Benn, a nut with a better accent, eulogised Haw in The Guardian, but the fact of the matter is, Haw was madman who probably should have been given professional psychiatric help. Here he is (on YouTube) ranting at a tourist who makes a quip about, ironically, the hazards of smoking. Here he is declaring 9/11 was “an inside job”.
Convincing himself he was defending “democracy”, his nemesis Tony Blair won two more general elections with a clear mandate after the Haw’s vigil started.
Regardless, loons like Benn and others queue up to declare Haw some sort of ‘conscience of the nation’ and other extravagant words to that effect, but he was a man filled with conspiracy theories, delusions and, ultimately, was unable to manage even his own welfare.
In his ‘profile’ Haw’s ‘doctor’ is described thus:
Dr. Simoncini’s personality is pervaded by a strong humanitarianism which triggered him to reflect on how little and inadequate medicine’s fundamental knowledge is, as shown by the impotence of medicine when faced by the pain of patients. This empathy for the pain of others has been the constant motivator on the path of his personal life.
That almost perfectly describes Brian Haw’s politics. A “strong humanitarianism” triggered a completely lunatic approach with equally mad prescriptions for the world. “Empathy” drove him and he lived as if motivation was more important than having the right answer – as if drive alone was a substitute for intelligence and reality.
Haw was a political quack.
