An astonishing attack on Tony Blair's "nannying" Government was launched today by former Teesside Cabinet Minister Mo Mowlam. Hitting out at repeated efforts of ministers to interfere in people's lives and liberty, the ex-Redcar MP called for a return to more personal freedom. And she suggested it was now time the country considered allowing voluntary euthanasia for the terminally ill and those wishing to die. Dr Mowlam's hard-hitting criticisms of the constant efforts by Government to control and influence how people live their lives included Whitehall's latest wheeze of using TV soaps to change the nation's unhealthy lifestyle. Writing in a national newspaper Dr Mowlam highlighted new moves to use series such as EastEnders and Coronation Street in a bid to persuade viewers to lead healthier lives. Soap opera characters she complained were going to be shown taking up walking and gardening "rather than standing in the pub having a pint and nibbling on pork scratchings". Dr Mowlam went on to ask: "Is living longer a good thing or a bad thing from the point of view of an individual citizen? Are inexorably rising life expectancies always desirable for society? Dr Mowlam said she did not object to people wanting to lead healthier lives, but did object to "the Government telling us what is the best life to live". She said: "Such questions should be for us to decide privately. Education is fine when it sets out the options, and the better educated we are the better. "But too much prescription infringes our liberties. We may need care from the Government, but we don't need nannying." In fact, the rising life expectancy would, she warned, have serious social implications. "Employers - with the trend towards greater globalisation and with a soon-to-be-enlarged EU - will be able to transfer jobs to countries with younger and cheaper workforces, further reducing the tax base available to meet these spiraling costs," said Dr Mowlam. And she questioned why the Government targeted fat people "as though they are enemies of society". "Shouldn't they be making sure that we are all free to live our lives as we like, as long as we don't harm others?" Dr Mowlam added, however, there were important issues the country needed to start to address including the right of people to die when they wished. She said: "I would even go so far as to say we should look at voluntary euthanasia." | 
