Even absent definitive scientific proof of its effectiveness, many healthcare programmes offer arts activity as a therapy or health intervention.

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"We've agreed a tougher inspection regime, we've asked hospitals and schools and prisons to check with their suppliers that they are testing their products... if there has been criminal activity then there should be the full intervention of the law, " he told MPs during Prime Minister's Questions.

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Given that fewer than half of the patients in the exercise group were actually following recommendations for physical activity by the end of the study -- par for the course with behavioral-intervention trials requiring lifestyle changes -- O'Connor says he wasn't disappointed that the benefits were small.

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While critics of government intervention in the private sector generally express concerns about excessive government control of private sector activity, advocates of this approach realize that in some cases the government must support ventures while being careful not to control them.

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Shadow Home Secretary Ann Widdecombe said there was "concern about the amount of activity and disorder that was allowed to take place before the police decided it was the proper time for intervention".

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