“We can continue doing this navel-gazing but valuable time will pass by.” – European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas, Washington, April 19 2005
 
“The European Parliament is once again indulging in its favourite sport and pastime, that of navel-gazing.” – UK Independence Party leader in the European Parliament Nigel Farage, Strasbourg, April 5 2006

A doctor writes: The navel, also commonly known as the tummy button, belly button, or umbilicus, has always had a bad press. Gazing at it is not harmful and can be therapeutic and instructive. And yet navel-gazing is treated in political circles as something to avoid at all costs. People and institutions are often accused of too much navel-gazing. But why? And how much is too much?

Detractors of the navel claim it has no purpose, overlooking the fact that it only has one, crucial, purpose, which is already fulfilled by the time the beneficiary of its function is questioning its very being.

The navel is the hub, the centre, the focus, the whole point, literally, of life. It is thus worth gazing at the navel from time to time both in personal and institutional terms, if only to remind ourselves of how we came to be where we are today.

The pop singer Madonna boosted the image of the navel by admitting: “I feel a nerve shoot up my spine whenever I insert my finger in my navel”. This endorsement of the navel, going beyond mere gazing, should be noted by a celebrity-obsessed political class which already clings to the words of other artistic sages such as Bono and Bob Geldof in the hope that the magic of public acclaim will rub off.

For if Madonna sticks her finger in her navel, how can others be condemned for simply gazing upon it? A word of caution: navel-gazing should be avoided by the squeamish, who may feel a little faint. But for those who can stomach it, routine navel-gazing, for a few minutes a week, is to be recommended, if only to check for the presence of navel fluff.

“The European Union has a great opportunity to do something, rather than pick fluff out if its own navel.” – UK Conservative Party leader David Cameron, Brussels, December 7 2006
 
Another doctor writes: Navel fluff, or lint, is one of the last taboos. And although Mr Cameron is to be applauded for bringing the issue into the spotlight, it is irresponsible to dismiss the problem as nothing to worry about, and something which can be ignored.

Having poured scorn for decades on navel-gazing, it seems that politicians are now encouraging people and institutions to overlook the more harmful social and aesthetic nightmare of navel fluff.

It is impossible to put a figure on the number of navel fluff sufferers – not least because of an understandable reluctance of many to be identified as a victim of an embarrassing and undignified condition.

Advising people to ignore navel fluff and pick on something else is, frankly, dangerous. People and institut......