Дэвид Треддинник: Биография британского политика и сторонника альтернативной медицины.

British Conservative politician

David Arthur Stephen Tredinnick (born 19 January 1950) is a British Conservative former Member of Parliament who represented Bosworth in Leicestershire from 1987 to 2019. He is an advocate of alternative medicine, and was chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Integrated Healthcare (previously Integrated and Complementary Healthcare) from 2002 to 2019.

Tredinnick attended Eton College, St John's College, Oxford (gaining a MLitt), and the Graduate School of Business at the University of Cape Town, where he gained an MBA. Tredinnick was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards after passing out from Mons Officer Cadet School on 10 August 1968. He served mainly in Northern Ireland and West Germany. Tredinnick was transferred to the Regular Reserve on 14 March 1971 before resigning his commission on 10 August 1976. From 1972 to 1973, he was a trainee at EB Savory Milln & Co stockbrokers, then in 1974 he was an account executive at Quadrant Int. In 1976, he was a salesman at Kalle Infotech UK, and sales manager at Word Right Word Processing from 1977 to 1978. From 1978 to 1979, he was a consultant at Baird Communications NV, and marketing manager at QI Europe Ltd from 1979 to 1981. He was manager at Malden Mitcham Properties from 1981 to 1987. As of 2015, he remains a director.

Tredinnick contested the seat of Cardiff South and Penarth in 1983, coming second (with a 35.9% vote share) to James Callaghan, cutting the former Prime Minister's majority from 8,700 to 2,300 votes. He won Bosworth in Leicestershire in 1987. He became a Parliamentary Private Secretary, but was forced to resign in July 1994 after it emerged that he had abused parliamentary privilege by agreeing to accept payment of £1,000 from an undercover reporter to ask questions in Parliament about a non existent drug. Part of the cash for questions affair, the MP was caught in an investigation by The Sunday Times. In April 1995, he was suspended without salary from entering the House of Commons chamber for 20 sitting days. Tredinnick was the chair of the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments from 1997 to 2005, which also made him a member of the Liaison Committee, and he became a member of the Health Select Committee in 2010. after Caroline Dinenage stepped down and there were no other nominations from the Conservative party. In February 2019 he announced that he would stand down from parliament at the next election. Tredinnick supported Boris Johnson in the 2019 Conservative leadership election.

Tredinnick supports alternative medicine including homeopathy and chiropractic. In October 2009, he told Parliament that blood does not clot under a full moon; a spokesperson for the Royal College of Surgeons of England warned that his colleagues would "laugh their heads off" at the suggestion. In the same debate, Tredinnick characterised scientists as "racially prejudiced". In July 2013, Tredinnick sponsored an Early Day Motion congratulating a farmer for his decision to use homeopathy. The motion was supported by one other MP; however, the British veterinary association said there is no evidence of any benefit of the treatment. Although Sally Davies, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), had described homeopathy as "rubbish", it was reported in May 2014 that health secretary Jeremy Hunt, at Tredinnick's urging, had requested a review of three studies by the French company, Boiron. These were found not to demonstrate the effectiveness of homeopathy, and the quality of the research in them was later questioned by Edzard Ernst. Tredinnick told The Independent in June 2015 that homeopathy's common rejection was the result of "vested interests trying to protect their own turf". In October 2019 Tredinnick again advocated alternative medicine in the House of Commons. He recommended that Ayurveda, yoga, naturopathy, homeopathy, osteopathy and chiropractic be considered in "a new health paradigm" for the NHS. Tredinnick made reference to the Indian Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa and Homoeopathy established by Hindu nationalist Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi in 2014, India's "sustainable health ministry" and its "4,000 year old medical system plus the world’s greatest usage of homeopathy", and China's "traditional 4,000 year old herbal medicine system and acupuncture", claiming that "one third of the world’s population already has sustainable healthcare". He had previously raised AYSUH in a question to Boris Johnson in July 2019 and in a written question to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in June 2018, to which the latter, Steve Brine replied his department had "no plans" to "hold discussions with the Ministry of AYUSH".

Tredinnick is a supporter of astrology and its use in medical practice. where he related his personal experience of astrology and illness, advocating that astrology be integrated into the National Health Service (NHS). "I do believe that astrology and complementary medicine would help take the huge pressure off doctors", he told Astrological Journal in February 2015. "People such as Professor Brian Cox, who called astrology 'rubbish' have simply not studied the subject. The BBC is quite dismissive of astrology and seeks to promote the science perspective and seems always keen to broadcast criticisms of astrology". During a hustings debate called by Brooks to "highlight the scientific literacy of the UK's elected representatives", Brooks said that Tredinnick regarded homeopathy as a suitable treatment for malaria and HIV, which Tredinnick did not deny. Tredinnick's appointment to the Health Committee in June 2010 was criticised in two science reports in The Guardian. Martin Robbins said the appointment was "an extremely disturbing development", even though "Tredinnick is a figure unlikely to be taken seriously by policymakers".

In May 2007, Tredinnick was among 98 MPs who voted to exempt themselves from the Freedom of Information Act, ending the compulsory legal requirement for MPs to disclose their expenses. The move was later overturned by the House of Lords. In 2006, Tredinnick claimed for astrology software and tuition, saying it was for a debate on alternative medicine, and had been cleared with the Commons fees office. In 2009, he claimed £125 for a course on "intimate relationships" on his Parliamentary office costs allowance, but this was rejected. The Daily Telegraph also noted he was claiming up to £7000 a quarter for a mortgage on a £2m house near Parliament. In early 2010, during the United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal, it emerged that Tredinnick had chosen to return £755.33 as he had decided that his expenditure on astrology software was supplementary to his parliamentary duties, although the parliamentary commissioner for standards John Lyon had decided against requesting that he should do so.

Tredinnick was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 referendum.

Tredinnick was married to Rebecca Jane Shott from 1983 until 2008 with whom he has a daughter (born February 1987) and a son (born July 1989). He lives in Sussex.