Gale had you pegged from the first comment, didn't she, Rod? That smug "Hmm," followed by the damning approbrium: "fascism" - a political term Gale has heard a million times whilst watching endless films about Hitler on the History Channel. She doesn't know what it means, but she knows it is a "bad thing" and so are you, Rod, for voicing opinions that differ from her own.

Sue, london,

Hmm, fascism is alive and well in the UK.

Gale, Minneapolis, MN, USA

For the life of me, I cannot see ANYTHING even mildly amusing about Norman Wisdom or Charlie Chaplin.

John Faulkner

John Faulkner, Westbury, Wilts,

Roswhita - Not sure where you got your 15 in 10000 stat but I'd actually contend that logically to lose weight permanently someone cannot by definition be on a "diet" in the typical meaning of the word. The typical meaning of the word in this context is a short-term modification of eating habits which is the clue to why they fail. Only a permanent change of diet can actually produce a permanent effect. One can argue that this is also a "diet" as in the pure meaning of the word everyone eats a diet.

Dave, Cardiff,

Rod - have you ever been to Austria? They're not fat at all in general. I live in Switzerland where people are also not fat.

Are you thinking of Australia perhaps? (Easy mistake to make and I know the education system in the UK has dropped its standards somewhat).

Stephen, Basel, Switzerland

rod is right about fat people. sadly, no is going to take the comments of a guy with such bad hair seriously.

on the subject of moslem loudspeakers, it's funny how the only aspect of their religion that seems to have been updated in any way since the middle ages is the one thing guaranteed to annoy the hell out of everyone.

having lived in the middle east, I have to say it's actually not an unpleasant sound to hear various mosques competing for attention on a summer evening. at 5 o'clock in the morning, though, it's just not civilised.

jem, london, uk

One of those 'hideously obese people' overflowed the next seat to the one I had been assigned in an airliner, that I could not occupy in consequence; worse, she could not sit on the aisle, which she would have obstructed, so took up an entire half-row and reduced the passenger capacity doubly.

It is not discrimination to require people to pay the costs they inflict. Airlines - and coach and train operators - legitimately can and should charge the horizontally challenged extra for the extra space they occupy.

Noel Falconer, COUIZA, France

I don't care whether we stigmatise them or not, but I'm dead against paying them to do something they should be doing anyway.

Neel, London,

I agree, partly because today being the death-day of King Henry VIII (Jan. 28, 1547) - who in the end was notorious for his obesity.

Peter, Mannheim, Germany

Out of 10000 dieters, only 15 manage to lose the weight permanently -- so you can all relax, the reward for slimming success won't be payed out all too often and we're in no danger of running out of fatties to legally harass, discriminate and make fun of.

Roswhita, London,

Not sure why we seem to have, of recent years , a 'big brother' or rather a 'nanny society'?
But there again, if one continually sticks one's nose into what is reality is other people's business, it saves one having to sort oneself out, doesn't it! Answered me own question I 'ave.

Tarni, London, UK

Win Shea of Florida is absolutely right of course: the carrot is better than the cheese-stick.

Alex, Athens,

Rather than offer vouchers and rewards to larger people for losing weight, the government instead should award such credits to people who already fit ino the accepted normal range on BMI scales. Envy is a more worthwhile stick with which to beat the 'fatties'.

Terry, Hants,

Ah, but the ski instructors aren't Austrian!

Dominic Stockford, Teddington, UK

I suggest a "Speak your weight" machine at the entrance of every fast food restaurant.

Tony Pegg, Leicester, England

I'm amused by your depiction of Austrians. When I went there, I was struck by how they all looked like ski instructors - tanned and fit. I don't remember seeing any fat people!

Caitlin, London, UK

"Former speech writer for the Labour party." You'd think most sensible people would keep that off their CV.

Rod Liddle, London, London

I think we should stigmatize stupid people, hey maybe stigmatize any one who speaks funny, or maybe just the ugly, or how about the poor or the mentally retarded, so as not to upset the delicate nature of Mr. Riddle.

Don Hays, Dripping Springs, USA,Texas

I'm guessing 'Rod Liddle' is an apt moniker.

Kimberly, New York City,

No, stigamatizing people, especially folks fat from over-eating witll only make them eat more to compensate for their feeling isolated and bad about themselves. Behavior modification research shows rewards work better than punishments, the carrot better than the stick.

Win Shea, Miami, Florida

Got the irony no problem, the snag I have is with the assertion that there is no link between obesity and shortened lifespan.
Two observations with this, firstly Type 2 diabetes, everyone can use Google and Wikipedia so look it up.
Secondly Liddle falls into a trap known by epidemiologists as "Uncle Norman and the Last Person (you'd expect)" Again you can use Google but in summary the parable here is that everyone has a relative who breaks all the rules on health but miraculously lives to a great age and they also know a healthy, slim, fit person who dropped dead at an early age, The snag being with this is that when the research is done the "Uncle Normans" die at a far greater rate than the slim, fit people. Another way of expressing this is "The plural of anecdote is not data"

Dave, Cardiff,

Ahem, did anyone actually read the piece? Rod Liddle was using irony to illustrate his suggestion that we should neither reward or castigate people for being fat. I quote his conclusion: "There is another, better approach, of course, which is to leave people alone to live the lives they wish to lead.".

Mark Harrison, Winchester,

Calling fat people fat, ugly etc will not make them skinner. If anything, it will make things worse and just make them binge even more.

What has gone wrong is the demise of the social network. We have too many loners about, or people with friends who kep themselves to themselves.

If you know a fat friend, do something about it, just ask them nicely- lets go to the gym, lets go for a walk , lets count calories. If they are seriously chubbylocks, then a bit of pressure, okay dont alienate the fatty but deep down they will know its for their own good.

I dont know any but tell a fat person that in 3/4 months, he would be calling others fattty bum bums!!!

chetas, croydon, surrey

Now, Now, Michael you musn't show that the truth hurts ;-)

Dave Madley, Alicante, Spain

Why not stigmatise people for being second rate Eric Clapton lookalikes too, in fact why not stigmatise anybody who's not perfect, in fact anybody who's different from me, in fact why not stigmatise everybodt who is not an Orwellian pig or who won't join the Brave New World Party for the righteously similar.

David, Worcester,

What about stigmatizing people who support illegal wars?

George Angus, Edinburgh,

probably just 'comfort eating' as a result of being exposed to those booze-drenched, fish-and-chip bloated and cooked-breakfast scoffing british louts that can't stay away from our pretty mountains

Oh no, wait, that was meant to read ALL Brits are ...

Oh no, wait, for a mere 'Have your say' that may not be permissible, so I better restrain myself and don't use stereotypes

Michael, Eisenerz, Austria

People in Austria are hugely fat? Not that I've noticed. If the author was there in winter, then I can only say that the people wrap up warmly in winter coats - unlike the underdressed British people I saw over Christmas and New Year. The only fat people I saw were Americans. And there were an awful lot of tourists there over the holiday period.

Tina, Dusseldorf, Germany