The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 271 No 7272 p578-579
25 October 2003

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Letters to the Editor

Modernisation

Examples of political posturing

From Mr A. Burr, MRPharmS

I read the letters on modernisation (PJ, 18 October, pp544–5), with a wry smile, as examples of political posturing and the difficulty some individuals have with the fundamental democratic decision-making process. This comes at a time when the Council of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society has been working well together and embracing the diverse experience and opinion around the table.

I was pleased to see my fellow Council member, Ashwin Tanna, encourage members to express their views on the revised draft Charter although members reading his letter could almost be forgiven for believing he was not on the Council. As a member of the Council he has been part of the same decision-making process and as such carries the same collective responsibility as us all. On the Council, one cannot be assured that one’s own personal viewpoint will win the day, nor should it, if the arguments made are not robust enough to stand up to public scrutiny.

Hassan Argomandkhah, a former Council member and member of the Save Our Society campaign, champions the special general meeting motion that sought a referendum on the Charter. When the Council made the decision, after a morning of full and frank debate, to allow further consultation rather than a referendum, none of the SOS candidates elected raised the issue of the referendum. In a press release issued on 20 October by the SOS campaign, Mr Argomandkhah promises to deliver a petition on 1 December demanding a referendum. His comment is far more telling about the real reasons for, as he puts it, “another photo opportunity”.

In response to Graham Phillips’s letter about the absence of the word “representation”, the answer is “no”.

Andrew Burr
Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands

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