The father of an autistic child, who is also a GP administering MMR vaccine to babies, reports that outbreaks of measles in France and Italy have prompted the authorities to make childhood immunisation compulsory. Now a newspaper editorial demands similar UK measures, insisting that ‘parental refusal of immunisation should not be tolerated’. A notorious 1998 study in The Lancet suggested a link between MMR and autism. The paper presented no evidence for this link, which caused undue alarm among parents of children with autism and parents of children due for vaccinations. Since then a voluntary approach to childhood immunisation has successfully ensured high levels of protection for British children. An anti-vax cause has been politically endorsed by Donald Trump and Italy’s Beppe Grillo, in spite of accurate and ethical grounds for opposing compulsion. A voluntary approach to childhood immunisation has consistently protected British children despite scares and ill-informed campaigns.