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A Tory MP who condemned Amazon for selling books promoting anorexia has urged the online retailer to stop harmful material being listed on its website in the first place.

Rachel Maclean has previously expressed her “revulsion” in the House of Commons as she revealed that Amazon was selling books which promoted anorexia as a "healthy lifestyle".

More than 80,000 people signed a petition calling for the tech giant to remove the books, which are said to “encourage readers to starve themselves”, from the site.

Amazon has now removed the books highlighted by Ms Maclean, which reportedly included titles such as “All Things Thin and Beautiful” and “Beauty Is Slim and Lean: Living Pro Ana the Healthy Way.”

But she is now insisting Amazon go further to address the issue, not only removing harmful content but ensuring pro-anorexia books are not put up for sale in the first place.

“There’s absolutely no reason why they couldn’t do that,” the MP for Redditch in Worcestershire said. “They are a huge tech company, they have all sorts of data algorithms that they employ to sell stuff to us.

“There’s no reason why they can’t put some of their considerable expertise to the task of preventing this kind of content being uploaded in the first place on their platform.

“This has obviously been uploaded by a third-party author but they should be able to monitor that either with humans or with some kind of technology, they have no excuse for it.

“They could stop it going up in the first place, it shouldn’t take a petition to get something done – there were thousands who had identified this and I was able to raise it in Parliament, then they woke up to it and did something about it, but it shouldn’t take that.”

The Times reported last month that one book sold on Amazon listed 101 “pro-ana” tips for extreme weight loss, such as spinning in circles so you become too nauseous to eat.

Others reportedly featured images of severely underweight women or the measurements of slim A-listers for “thinspiration”.

Ms Maclean welcomed the news that Amazon had removed the listings, but added: “It would certainly make me think twice about ordering something from Amazon in future if they can’t demonstrate that they’ve changed this business practice.

“I don’t want to be encouraging or putting money into their pockets if they can’t behave ethically. By their sheer dominance in the market they have a responsibility to do that.”

She previously asked Health Secretary Matt Hancock if he was aware “that tech giant Amazon is selling books under the category of ‘pro-ana’, which purportedly shows anorexia as a healthy lifestyle”.

Asked if he will “call on Amazon to take this content down immediately”, Mr Hancock vowed to challenge the company over the “alarming” listings.

He said: “Amazon sells physical goods in the large part and surely has a duty of care to those who are buying those physical goods in the same way that a shop has a responsibility for what it sells.”

Beat, the UK’s leading charity supporting those with eating disorders, also called on Amazon to ensure such books cannot be listed and said tech companies should “do more to ensure people searching for them are directed to sources of support”.

Director of external affairs Tom Quinn said: “Eating disorders are serious and often deadly mental illnesses. They are not lifestyle choices, and books that promote them as such should not be available.

“We welcome social media companies’ recent measures to protect users from content that promotes eating disorders, and call on online retailers such as Amazon to ensure such books cannot be advertised or sold.

“At the same time, it is important to note that most pro-ana content comes from people who are themselves very ill and is not deliberately malicious.

“Eating disorders are isolating, stigmatised illnesses, and many sufferers seek out or share pro-ana tips as a way of connecting with others with similar experiences.

“Tech companies and online platforms where pro-ana books are found should do more to ensure people searching for them are directed to sources of support like Beat.”

Amazon declined to comment but confirmed several listings had been removed from the site.

Their guideline for books states: “As a bookseller, we provide our customers with access to a variety of viewpoints, including books that some customers may find objectionable.

"That said, we reserve the right not to sell certain content, such as pornography or other inappropriate content.”