CLAIMS that too much fluoride in the water supply could leave Tamworth people with weak bones have been ignored by councillors.

At a meeting of the health and wellbeing scrutiny committee this week, members were called upon to review the issue but returned a majority vote against it.

The plea came from Councillor Chris Cooke, who after the meeting said: “This committee voted to keep itself in ignorance to the dangers of fluoridation of Tamworth’s drinking water.

“The council is letting Tamworth people down.

“They may keep a head in the sand attitude but this issue is not going to go away.”

On Tuesday, Councillor Cooke presented a 16-page report to members in the hope of getting fluoride banned from drinking water in Tamworth.

“People have no idea as to what fluoride does,” he said. “They are given some dubious statistics relating to the dental health of five-year-olds and they think it must be good.

“They haven’t a clue, for instance, that fluoride is a grade four toxin – lead is classed as grade three, and is used in our water to a toxicity level 60 times greater than allowed for lead.

“They haven’t a clue that this is not the pharmaceutical grade sodium fluoride that is found in toothpaste but is instead impure, untested industrial waste silica-fluoride scrubbed from the chimneys of the phosphate industry, who would otherwise have no cheap legal way to dispose of these poisonous wastes.

“They don’t understand how many disabling illnesses are related to fluoride. Nor do they realise that the West Midlands is effectively being used as a guinea pig with 70 per cent of its population having fluoride in its drinking water.

“The figure for the whole UK is only around 10 per cent and only two per cent for Europe as a whole.

“Personally I’ve no doubt fluoridation of water must soon be banned – in much the same way as lead in petrol, DDT and PCBs have now all been banned – after we were all told how safe they were.

“And future generations will be amazed at how stupid we were to allow it.”

The councillor will now be arranging to produce a 1,000-strong petition to force the council, through its new rule in the constitution, to properly debate the matter in full council.

The Glascote Ward Councillor has also started a Facebook group, called ‘Stop fluoridation of Tamworth’s (Staffordshire) drinking water supply’.

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