Am I alone in thinking that the obsession with political lobbying is getting a little out of hand?
Hardly a day goes by without the announcement of a new body to lobby MPs, the arrival of new PR managers, the appointment of optically funded lobbyists, the contracting of spin doctors to woo the Westminster power-brokers and more recently a call on the profession, from such spin doctors, to get MPs into practices.
Strange then that the Eye Health Alliance, which ran the Health Hotel at the 2009 party conferences, has failed to get any MPs to visit an optical practice to date.
Now, call me an old cynic if you like, but it strikes me that MPs aren't going to be very receptive to messages about optometry at the moment. The next election, just months away, will see the biggest changeover of members since the war. Those that haven't jumped ship, in the wake of the expenses scandal, are furiously scurrying around Westminster securing their own political futures rather than worrying about wearisome issues like primary eye healthcare.
I'd like to think the new intake of MPs might be more receptive to what optometry can offer. Sadly I think we have entered an era where MPs will only take an interest in optometry when its suits them to do so regardless of how much lobbying optics pays for.