So now we know what the "right wing" thinks of the drive to encourage the people of the UK to eat 5-a-day. The Adam Smith Institute, which brands itself a right-wing think tank, has also branded the job of 5-a-day co-ordinator as the most unworthy job title of 30,000 advertised in the Guardian's weekly Society supplement.

Take the following paragraph from the report as the criteria and you will no doubt feel as non-plussed as me at the institute's decision.

"Many of these jobs might achieve worthwhile things, but there is often a sense that these achievements are tiny compared with the cost it takes to attain them. The other question to ask is whether these jobs are justified, given the state of the economy. Whether the country can afford to spend so much on unproductive work at a time of economic difficulty is open to question."

The need for regional and national co-ordinators for a programme that will have significant effects on the long-term health and prosperity of a nation surely cannot be brought into question. Justifying a role that encourages consumers to eat what is essentially cheap food and will eventually save the National Health Service many millions of pounds by reducing patient numbers is pretty easy.

The government has unfortunately paid too much attention to ridiculous NGO report findings such as this in the past. Let's hope it has the good sense to ignore this particular nonsense.