Looks like it's only the mad dogs left...

At least if we follow the latest guidance from the Church of Public Health:

There is no safe or healthy way to get a tan from sunlight, new guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has warned.

The health watchdog's latest guidance also says an existing tan provides little protection against sun exposure.

It recommends using at least factor 15 sun cream, with adults urged to use 6-8 teaspoons (35ml) per application.

Benefits from building up vitamin D from the sun have to be balanced with the risks of skin cancer, it adds.

You remember all those years ago when the merest glimpse of watery sunshine resulted in us stripping layers of clothing off to bask in its glory? When your mum, spotting the opportunity to get some peace and quiet threw you out into the garden with as few clothes on as possible (and sun cream - what is sun cream)? Those days are gone, the midday sun is left solely to the mad dogs.

What absolute frothing lunacy is this - rickets is on the increase and over 90% people with skin cancers survive but the Chief Medical Officer, NICE and the assorted fussbuckets prefer to scare us about cancer while not giving a damn about kids getting deformities from being kept in a dark room in case a ray of sunshine should accidentally splash onto an unprotected portion of skin.

The guidance goes into contortions that are more reminiscent of the hokey-cokey to describe how we can expose skin to build up Vitamin D with first one arm, then another exposed for a 'short period' to the evil rays or the dreaded sun.

It does seem that it's not the dogs that are mad but the entirety of the public health profession.

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