Moneo writes

I'm beginning to wonder whether our leaders have lost the plot. Fresh from their resounding failure to negotiate us a sensible GOS contract, leaving many of us with a legal document that has many question marks over it, I now see that at least one of them is exhorting us to support a campaign in October to encourage people, who very likely will not require spectacles, to have their eyes examined to check their health.

Now I am as keen as the next person to promote regular eye examinations but, as I have always said, this must be done at an economically viable rate. I am happy to see the RNIB promote good eye care but, as even it will admit from various research projects it has undertaken over the years, there needs to be a viable income stream for optometrists to perform these examinations. It is the RNIB which reveals that many people do not have regular eye tests because of the fear of the high cost of spectacles. Why are the prices high? Because of cross subsidising, we all know that. I do not expect the RNIB to fight our corner for equitable remuneration but I also do not expect to see our representatives suggesting that we should endorse this promotion without saying anything about the scandalous situation created by the government.