This is a reminder to UK readers that elections to the European Parliament are on Thursday.

Not that I would dream of advising anyone how to vote, but one point may be of special interest to GNXP readers.

Geneticist Steve Jones pointed out recently (Daily Telegraph, 7 April) that the draft European Constitution has a little-noticed clause on eugenics:

“In its Charter of Fundamental Rights, just after Abolition of the Death Penalty, but before the Prohibition of Torture and of Slavery, the draft European Constitution insists on ‘the prohibition of eugenic practices’."

As Jones points out, ‘eugenics’ can be interpreted in many ways, but I guess that most GNXP readers would approve of some form of eugenics in at least some sense of that much-abused word. As the current President of the Galton Institute, Jones wrote to Brussels asking for clarification of the proposal but got no reply.

Jones also consulted Lord (Robert) Winston, the fertility expert, who is concerned at the ulterior motives behind the proposal: “He sees it as based on prejudice incited in part by the Catholic Church, especially in Germany, mixed with simple ignorance about what science can do... Robert Winston is concerned that one target of the Euro-edict will be his own field, pre-implantation genetic diagnosis”.

So, whether you actively support eugenics (in some sense), or merely wish to protect scientific freedom, bear this point in mind when casting your vote.

And isn’t Robert Kilroy-Silk looking good these days?