c-a-r-f-r-e-w
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A step on the way toward the demise of the liberal elite? Or just a blip…
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Post by c-a-r-f-r-e-w on Jul 5, 2023 17:55:57 GMT
Another headline in the Telegraph:
Thirteen years of Tory failure have shifted Britain radically to the Left
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Post by alec on Jul 5, 2023 17:56:41 GMT
Proposed new NHS funding model: someone else should pay for it.
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pjw1961
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Post by pjw1961 on Jul 5, 2023 18:01:47 GMT
Another headline in the Telegraph: Thirteen years of Tory failure have shifted Britain radically to the Left
If only that were true!  Mind you the Torygraph probably thinks Sunak is a socialist. |
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c-a-r-f-r-e-w
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Post by c-a-r-f-r-e-w on Jul 5, 2023 18:03:29 GMT
Another headline in the Telegraph: Thirteen years of Tory failure have shifted Britain radically to the Left
If only that were true! Mind you the Torygraph probably thinks Sunak is a socialist. You’re not far off the mark at all there, PJ! (Though it seems to blame all of them in the last 13 years). As the article continues… “ The cult of the NHS, the woke takeover, the return of socialism, eco-insanity: all are worse since 2010” p.s. thought I would quote the bit on the NHS for you: ” The bizarre service for the NHS, a shamefully sub-par health system by international standards, is the ultimate symbol of 13 wasted Tory years. Tony Blair, for all his faults, was more supportive of market reforms, more “Right-wing” on the NHS than this Government ever was. The Tories’ only solution has been low-grade managerialism combined with an attempt at out-Lefting the Left, pumping billions into the NHS, and turning our erstwhile national secular religion into a veritable cult.
Even though outcomes remain terrible, they have refused to make any case for moving towards a European-style public-private system. They don’t realise that the NHS is a poison pill for conservatism, guaranteeing an ever-larger state and ever-higher taxes. The new workplace plan would see the number of NHS employees increase from 1.4 million (5 per cent of workers) to 2.3 million (8 per cent); either the private sector would have to shrink or huge extra immigration would be required. The Left-wing economist Jonathan Portes estimates that direct spending by and on the NHS would rise from 7.5 per cent of GDP to 11 per cent. All of this is before the social care plan. Toryism and classical liberalism are doomed if the NHS is preserved for much longer*. The same is true of the failure to release more land for building, a central reason why so many under-40s now back Labour. We need at least 500,000 new homes a year, something our 1940s planning regime can’t deliver.” * (they say that like it’s a bad thing) |
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Post by crossbat11 on Jul 5, 2023 18:13:09 GMT
Those latest Scottish opinion polls are enough to send me into another British nationalist hissy-fit.
More seriously though, and I've mentioned this before, if something really is "going on" up there, as these polls are starting to suggest to be the case, then the implications for our politics are profound.
Not least that Mr Flynn's boastful assertions that Labour will depend on SNP support at Westminster if they are to form a government after the next election, will sound like hot air.
And another favourite Tory fox will have bitten the the dust.
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steve
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Post by steve on Jul 5, 2023 18:16:16 GMT
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Post by alec on Jul 5, 2023 18:19:57 GMT
Fascinating article, and pertinent for the discussions around health care reform - www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02130-6Turns out the NHS contact tracing app worked OK, but that governments and the WHO have declined to adopt the learning. |
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Post by shevii on Jul 5, 2023 18:23:50 GMT
If only that were true! Mind you the Torygraph probably thinks Sunak is a socialist. Matt Le Tissier had a tweet the other day about Britain turning into a communist country although I couldn't work out what his theory for this was! It's a shame he did end up playing for England as I liked the song "you'll never play for England", just as it was a shame that Teddy Sheringham did end up winning everything at Man United to ruin the song about how Teddy went to Man United and he won *** all. |
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Post by richardstamper on Jul 5, 2023 18:38:29 GMT
Here's the byelection breakdown King's Hedges (Cambridge) Council By-Election Result: CON: 34.9% (+3.0) LAB: 33.6% (-5.6) LDM: 23.5% (+8.5) GRN: 8.0% (-6.0) Conservative GAIN from Labour. Changes w/ 2023. It really doesn't look like a lib dems block does it? Labour vote falls. Can't read much into a local but very remain Cambridge maybe isn't enamoured of Starmer's make Brexit work bollocks. Steve- King's Hedges was Cambridge's least Remain-supporting ward, dividing 55% Remain, 45% Leave. Quite different to the 74% Remain vote for Cambridge as a whole , let alone the 88% Remain vote in the central Cambridge Market ward. www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/revealed-cambridge-ward-highest-pro-12563866But this result is consistent with both the Local Elections and polling findings showing Labour doing less well in their safe (or very Remainy) areas, and very much better where they lost in 2019. In particular, YouGov and others show much higher Con to Lab swings among Leave voters then Remainers, albeit that the Tories still have a small lead with Leavers (they led by 74/14 in GE2019). I think that in this case the Remain/Leave split is a probably serving as an indicator of other social factors, with this result being driven largely by opposition to the congestion charge in Cambridge which has been proposed by the Labour-run council; the elected Tory is a taxi driver. Recent byelections in Littlemore in Oxford where anti-LTN independents came relatively close to beating Labour candidates were similar. In Oxford, where there are also no Tory councillors for the city on either the City or County councils, the Tories have now opportunistically started to campaign against the LTNs, and might have had a similar byelection success were it not for the fact that they introduced the first set of LTNs when they were running the County. |
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steve
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Post by steve on Jul 5, 2023 18:51:39 GMT
richardstamperThe Tory win doubles their representation on the council. Labour and lib dems retain 35 out of 42.
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c-a-r-f-r-e-w
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Post by c-a-r-f-r-e-w on Jul 5, 2023 18:53:54 GMT
If only that were true! Mind you the Torygraph probably thinks Sunak is a socialist. Matt Le Tissier had a tweet the other day about Britain turning into a communist country although I couldn't work out what his theory for this was! It's a shame he did end up playing for England as I liked the song "you'll never play for England", just as it was a shame that Teddy Sheringham did end up winning everything at Man United to ruin the song about how Teddy went to Man United and he won *** all. the Sky Blues ruined the Python joke when they won the cup too. youtu.be/vZ9myHhpS9sMind you, they had their own ground in those days… |
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pjw1961
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Post by pjw1961 on Jul 5, 2023 19:13:32 GMT
If only that were true! Mind you the Torygraph probably thinks Sunak is a socialist. Matt Le Tissier had a tweet the other day about Britain turning into a communist country although I couldn't work out what his theory for this was! It's a shame he did end up playing for England as I liked the song "you'll never play for England", just as it was a shame that Teddy Sheringham did end up winning everything at Man United to ruin the song about how Teddy went to Man United and he won *** all. Oldnat with his interest in the exact constitutional status of the these islands (and woe betide anyone who forgets) would point out that Matt Le Tissier, being from Guernsey, is not properly English, so perhaps he shouldn't have played for England anyway. Fine footballer, potty political views. |
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pjw1961
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Post by pjw1961 on Jul 5, 2023 19:19:08 GMT
If only that were true! Mind you the Torygraph probably thinks Sunak is a socialist. You’re not far off the mark at all there, PJ! (Though it seems to blame all of them in the last 13 years). As the article continues… “ The cult of the NHS, the woke takeover, the return of socialism, eco-insanity: all are worse since 2010” p.s. thought I would quote the bit on the NHS for you: ” The bizarre service for the NHS, a shamefully sub-par health system by international standards, is the ultimate symbol of 13 wasted Tory years. Tony Blair, for all his faults, was more supportive of market reforms, more “Right-wing” on the NHS than this Government ever was. The Tories’ only solution has been low-grade managerialism combined with an attempt at out-Lefting the Left, pumping billions into the NHS, and turning our erstwhile national secular religion into a veritable cult.
Even though outcomes remain terrible, they have refused to make any case for moving towards a European-style public-private system. They don’t realise that the NHS is a poison pill for conservatism, guaranteeing an ever-larger state and ever-higher taxes. The new workplace plan would see the number of NHS employees increase from 1.4 million (5 per cent of workers) to 2.3 million (8 per cent); either the private sector would have to shrink or huge extra immigration would be required. The Left-wing economist Jonathan Portes estimates that direct spending by and on the NHS would rise from 7.5 per cent of GDP to 11 per cent. All of this is before the social care plan. Toryism and classical liberalism are doomed if the NHS is preserved for much longer*. The same is true of the failure to release more land for building, a central reason why so many under-40s now back Labour. We need at least 500,000 new homes a year, something our 1940s planning regime can’t deliver.” * (they say that like it’s a bad thing) Wow, so many untruths in so few words. To take just the final sentence - how can a "1940s planning regime" be responsible for stopping house building when there were vastly more houses built in the 1950s (i.e. post the Town and Country Planning Act) than there are now? The answer of course is that in the 1950s governments let councils build vast numbers of council houses for affordable rent, a sector Thatcher deliberately destroyed in the 1980s for explicitly party political reasons. |
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Post by graham on Jul 5, 2023 20:12:16 GMT
You’re not far off the mark at all there, PJ! (Though it seems to blame all of them in the last 13 years). As the article continues… “ The cult of the NHS, the woke takeover, the return of socialism, eco-insanity: all are worse since 2010” p.s. thought I would quote the bit on the NHS for you: ” The bizarre service for the NHS, a shamefully sub-par health system by international standards, is the ultimate symbol of 13 wasted Tory years. Tony Blair, for all his faults, was more supportive of market reforms, more “Right-wing” on the NHS than this Government ever was. The Tories’ only solution has been low-grade managerialism combined with an attempt at out-Lefting the Left, pumping billions into the NHS, and turning our erstwhile national secular religion into a veritable cult.
Even though outcomes remain terrible, they have refused to make any case for moving towards a European-style public-private system. They don’t realise that the NHS is a poison pill for conservatism, guaranteeing an ever-larger state and ever-higher taxes. The new workplace plan would see the number of NHS employees increase from 1.4 million (5 per cent of workers) to 2.3 million (8 per cent); either the private sector would have to shrink or huge extra immigration would be required. The Left-wing economist Jonathan Portes estimates that direct spending by and on the NHS would rise from 7.5 per cent of GDP to 11 per cent. All of this is before the social care plan. Toryism and classical liberalism are doomed if the NHS is preserved for much longer*. The same is true of the failure to release more land for building, a central reason why so many under-40s now back Labour. We need at least 500,000 new homes a year, something our 1940s planning regime can’t deliver.” * (they say that like it’s a bad thing) Wow, so many untruths in so few words. To take just the final sentence - how can a "1940s planning regime" be responsible for stopping house building when there were vastly more houses built in the 1950s (i.e. post the Town and Country Planning Act) than there are now? The answer of course is that in the 1950s governments let councils build vast numbers of council houses for affordable rent, a sector Thatcher deliberately destroyed in the 1980s for explicitly party political reasons. Blair made no attempt to reverse that policy. |
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oldnat
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Post by oldnat on Jul 5, 2023 20:24:53 GMT
Matt Le Tissier had a tweet the other day about Britain turning into a communist country although I couldn't work out what his theory for this was! It's a shame he did end up playing for England as I liked the song "you'll never play for England", just as it was a shame that Teddy Sheringham did end up winning everything at Man United to ruin the song about how Teddy went to Man United and he won *** all. Oldnat with his interest in the exact constitutional status of the these islands (and woe betide anyone who forgets) would point out that Matt Le Tissier, being from Guernsey, is not properly English, so perhaps he shouldn't have played for England anyway. Fine footballer, potty political views.
It's rather poor taste to ascribe false attitudes to other posters, simply because you disagree with them politically - but that seems to be how you want to act. |
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oldnat
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Post by oldnat on Jul 5, 2023 20:46:09 GMT
Those latest Scottish opinion polls are enough to send me into another British nationalist hissy-fit. More seriously though, and I've mentioned this before, if something really is "going on" up there, as these polls are starting to suggest to be the case, then the implications for our politics are profound. Not least that Mr Flynn's boastful assertions that Labour will depend on SNP support at Westminster if they are to form a government after the next election, will sound like hot air. And another favourite Tory fox will have bitten the the dust.
For clarity, this is what Flynn said in May 2023 -
“Everyone’s of the view that Keir’s going to be the next prime minister, and he’s likely to be the prime minister of a minority government.
And in that case he’s going to require support to get on with his agenda and that affords us the opportunity to say ‘Well, you know what, your agenda should also involve empowering Scotland’s Parliament’.
The devolution of energy, devolution of immigration policy, the ability to access the single market, and, of course, the big one for us, which is to ensure the powers over Scotland’s future rest in Holyrood, not in Westminster.
We can not only help the UK Government to see some sense when it comes to the biggest issues, we can also drive home our own agenda.
I think the ability for Holyrood to hold a referendum would be extremely high up my priority list, if not right up the top, because it is the way that Scotland can best align itself with the European Union and move forward with the benefits that come with that and solve many of the social problems and economic challenges that we face.
Whilst we are still in the United Kingdom, I think it’s fair and reasonable to seek to ensure that Scotland’s Parliament garners additional powers and resources. Devolution doesn’t go far enough, and we’d like some meat on those bones."
I can understand the wish to misrepresent the views of a politician in a party you disagree with, but it's not a very honest position to take - not that honesty features notably in political discussion! |
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Mr Poppy
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Post by Mr Poppy on Jul 5, 2023 21:08:32 GMT
To make the NHS work better for poorer people then it's simples - take the rich out of the 'free' queue and make then pay for their healthcare. Between Reeves and Streeting then I hope they work it out. CON's approach of throwing more money into the money pit is a 'sticking plaster' and Reeves doesn't seem keen on 'tax+spend' which only leaves 'rightsizing' the NHS (ideally by making rich people pay for their own healthcare so that there are less people in the 'free' queue) Another issue is the people who use the 'welfare state' as a trampoline rather than a safety net. Some people 'choose' to be obese, get into drunk fights at weekends, OD on drugs, etc and as mentioned many times then 'bad choices' should have consequences for the individual not all taxpayers. Various 'carrots+sticks' that we could use to deter/prevent 'bad choices' and that would also reduce demand in the 'free' queue. According to OECD we are third highest on total funding as % GDP But we drop out of the top three on funding per capita. Top three there is Germany/Switz/Norway. We can discount the last two as their GDP per capita is nearly double ours and Germany for obvious reasons. So we do need to grow the pc gdp and maintain % NHS funding. But when you look at the health outcomes of Germany and others and their Health system architecture and funding models you see the differences. They have no fear of diverse provision to produce overcapacity-there is no gatekeeping system in some of those countries ! And no fear either of co-payment via mandatory and/or private insurance. We are going to pay more anyway-why does it have to be via direct taxation all the time? Whilst there is this religious clinging to inputs rather than outputs , and worrying about who provides the care rather than the quality of that care NHS will continue to be a fiscal black hole. It always surprises me that there is not more liking for effective Regulation on loc, rather than Control . Effective Regulation of key services-be it water or healthcare -unlocks diversity of provision with all its benefits. But the Regulators have to be tough and effective. Not sure I completely follow you in the above and I've ANFIW in pjw1961 's misrepresentation of my/your opinion. We need to grow GDP as a bigger pie allows more spending. Then due to ageing population and new treatments/drugs we need to increase spending on healthcare in real terms. It is unlikely that GDP growth will be faster than the need to increase healthcare spending (which is why throwing money at the NHS money pit is doomed to failure - IMO). So, to increase healthcare spending faster than GDP growth then the spending needs to come from either increased taxation (that neither CON or LAB seem keen on doing) OR from "co-payment via mandatory and/or private insurance" (as per most other countries). I think we broadly agree but unlike some others then I wouldn't want to misrepresent you. I appreciate that people see the NHS as 'our precious' (ie "religious clinging") and most polling on the issue is 'cakism' as it doesn't state how the "fiscal black hole" (aka "money pit") will be funded. Hence no party is going to state in a manifesto that they'll 'evolve' the NHS but instead they'll promise more nurses and more money thrown into the money pit. However, once in power, then... TBC of course but if Starmer-LAB can do countless U-turns when in opposition then perhaps they 'discover' that the money pit is not sustainable via general taxation and 'those with the broadest shoulders' need to be chucked out of the 'free' queue and pay their way in a different queue. The somewhat separate issue of reducing NHS demand with 'tough love' WRT to self-inflicted obesity and those who make 'bad choices' getting something like "three strikes and you're out" is.. somewhat separate - and we could start with that before/after chucking rich people out of the free queue (ideally both at the same time and asap IMO but I appreciate anything any HMG does is a painfully slow process - although hopefully not "two decades at least") |
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neilj
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Post by neilj on Jul 5, 2023 21:08:54 GMT
Good on them
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Post by James E on Jul 5, 2023 21:12:12 GMT
....Mr Flynn's boastful assertions that Labour will depend on SNP support at Westminster if they are to form a government after the next election, will sound like hot air.
For clarity, this is what Flynn said in May 2023 -
“Everyone’s of the view that Keir’s going to be the next prime minister, and he’s likely to be the prime minister of a minority government...." [emphasis added]
So Flynn is predicting that Labour will be short of a majority. Anyone who believes this should be able to make some money on the betting markets, where a Labour majority ( and that means 326 seats or more) is priced at around 4/9 on. 'No overall majority' is priced at 5/2. www.oddschecker.com/politics/british-politics/next-uk-general-election/overall-majorityThis is because of the large Labour leads in GB polling, and the patterns in regional and other detailed data suggest that Labour would get a majority on around a 4-5% lead, even if the SNP remains the largest party in Scotland, which I believe it probably will. For what it's worth, the kind of result which would (in my opinion) enable the SNP to hold the balance of power would be something close to parity between Con and Lab: probably from a 3% Con lead to a 2% Lab lead, as with anything more than that a Lab+LD deal of some sort would probably be viable. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2023 21:13:26 GMT
Those latest Scottish opinion polls are enough to send me into another British nationalist hissy-fit. I believe it was actually described by hireton as a “hissy SISSY fit” which is what concerned me earlier. I’m sorry to hear you are suffering yet again - though the symptoms seem a bit less worrying. Get well soon or see a GP. |
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Post by RAF on Jul 5, 2023 21:23:08 GMT
Maybe Jenrick would prefer the mural to display Shere Khan instead! |
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Mr Poppy
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Post by Mr Poppy on Jul 5, 2023 21:26:19 GMT
If only that were true! Mind you the Torygraph probably thinks Sunak is a socialist. You’re not far off the mark at all there, PJ! (Though it seems to blame all of them in the last 13 years). As the article continues… “ The cult of the NHS, the woke takeover, the return of socialism, eco-insanity: all are worse since 2010” p.s. thought I would quote the bit on the NHS for you: ” The bizarre service for the NHS, a shamefully sub-par health system by international standards, is the ultimate symbol of 13 wasted Tory years. Tony Blair, for all his faults, was more supportive of market reforms, more “Right-wing” on the NHS than this Government ever was. The Tories’ only solution has been low-grade managerialism combined with an attempt at out-Lefting the Left, pumping billions into the NHS, and turning our erstwhile national secular religion into a veritable cult.
Even though outcomes remain terrible, they have refused to make any case for moving towards a European-style public-private system. They don’t realise that the NHS is a poison pill for conservatism, guaranteeing an ever-larger state and ever-higher taxes. The new workplace plan would see the number of NHS employees increase from 1.4 million (5 per cent of workers) to 2.3 million (8 per cent); either the private sector would have to shrink or huge extra immigration would be required. The Left-wing economist Jonathan Portes estimates that direct spending by and on the NHS would rise from 7.5 per cent of GDP to 11 per cent. All of this is before the social care plan. Toryism and classical liberalism are doomed if the NHS is preserved for much longer*. The same is true of the failure to release more land for building, a central reason why so many under-40s now back Labour. We need at least 500,000 new homes a year, something our 1940s planning regime can’t deliver.” * (they say that like it’s a bad thing) Streeting is IMO a Tory and I'm taking a gamble and 'reading between the lie-ns' when he says 'no more money, only reform' for NHS. Perhaps he is the person to "make the case for moving towards a European-style public-private system" and ending the "money pit" sticking plaster of recent CON HMGs. It's fundamental reform (ie the end of mostly free for everyone) or massive increases in general taxation and I don't think Starmer-Reeves-Streeting are going for massive increases in general taxation. With a massive majority post GE'24 then LAB can do some unpopular stuff earlier on, blame it all on CON and avoid tax increases (which might well mean the CON'19 voters they win back in GE'24 decide to stick into GE'29). So, TBC but in Streeting I trust  |
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oldnat
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Post by oldnat on Jul 5, 2023 21:29:37 GMT
For clarity, this is what Flynn said in May 2023 -
“Everyone’s of the view that Keir’s going to be the next prime minister, and he’s likely to be the prime minister of a minority government...." [edited]
So Flynn is predicting that Labour will be short of a majority. Anyone who believes this should be able to make some money on the betting markets, where a Labour majority ( and that means 326 seats or more) is priced at around 4/9 on. 'No overall majority' is priced at 5/2. www.oddschecker.com/politics/british-politics/next-uk-general-election/overall-majorityThis is because the large Labour leads in GB polling, and the patterns in regional and other detailed data suggest that Labour would get a majority on around a 4-5% lead, even if the SNP remains the largest party in Scotland, which I believe it probably will. For what it's worth, the kind of result which would (in my opinion) enable the SNP to hold the balance of power would be something close to parity between Con and Lab: probably from a 3% Con lead to a 2% Lab lead, as with anything more than that a Lab+LD deal of some sort would probably be viable. I agree that, since Flynn made those comments in May, the likelihood of England not installing a majority Labour government is much reduced. It also means that the incentive to vote SLab "to get the Tories out" is reduced. In marginal constituencies, how the crucial component of the electorate - supporters of both "Devo Max" and Independence - react to Labour's plans and actions in office may be crucial. Unsurprisingly, faith in politicians has taken a severe knock over the last few years, but worth noting that "Scottish voters believe Humza Yousaf would be a better First Minister for Scotland than either Douglas Ross or Anas Sarwar. Yousaf (41%, –) leads Ross (28%, +1) by 13 points, while Yousaf (37%, +1) also leads Sarwar (26%, -3) by 11 points." (R&W) |
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oldnat
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Post by oldnat on Jul 5, 2023 21:31:57 GMT
I'd be concerned about the prospect of Disney's corporate lawyers seeing an opportunity to sue for unlicensed use of their copyright, now that this has been publicised.
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Post by jib on Jul 5, 2023 21:38:04 GMT
RE @trevor's statement "Streeting is a Tory".
Please! Looking at his family history "Streeting was born in Stepney, London, on 21 January 1983. His parents were teenagers when he was born. He has five brothers, a sister and a stepsister. His maternal grandfather was an armed robber who spent time in prison, and his grandmother became embroiled in his crimes and ended up in Holloway jail, "
No Trevor, he's working class. He probably cares about other human beings outside politics..
Believing in reformed, effective public services doesn't make you a Tory. Believing that public services are fundamentally inefficient and are best made more efficient through austerity cuts does qualify one as a Tory boy, and a Knighthood too!
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Post by mercian on Jul 5, 2023 21:42:23 GMT
Re NHS, lots of talk about alternative funding models, but not much in the way of specifics Obviously I'm talking about England as the RUK will have different systems If they are talking about an extra insurance will there be exemptions If so one imagines it will be in line with prescriptions for England. Worth remembering 90% are free due to exemptionsSo if we have similar exemptions then we will be introducing a whole new layer of bureaucracy and charges which the people who use the NHS 90% of the time won't pay Are you sure about that? When I was in work I always had to pay and assumed that others did too. |
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Post by James E on Jul 5, 2023 21:46:44 GMT
oldnat "I agree that, since Flynn made those comments in May, the likelihood of England not installing a majority Labour government is much reduced." Labour's GB lead was averaging 16% when he made those comments, as opposed to 19% now, so really not much has changed. I think that the odds for a hung parliament have become very slightly longer. I picked up on his comments at the time (15 May, page 82 of this thread) and offered much the same coments then..... "May 15, 2023 at 11:35am neilj, moby, and 5 more like thisQuoteEditlikePost OptionsPost by James E on May 15, 2023 at 11:35am "Flynn said: "It's increasingly clear that the SNP can hold the balance of power after the next general election - putting Scotland in prime position to pull the strings of a minority UK government." It looks to me like this is another of those judgements based on UNS - and the false narrative that Labour need a lead of 13% in the overall vote to form a majority. My own calculations suggest that the point that Labour can get an overall majority is around 4% lead - such as 39/35. Electoral Calculus suggests a little lower with tactical voting. I am working on an assumption of just 5-10 Lab MPs in Scotland: the same dynamics which show Labour doing far better than UNS in England on current polling also suggest that they would underperform against the SNP in Scotland unless they can draw level in Scottish vote share with them."
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Post by pete on Jul 5, 2023 21:48:54 GMT
I also want reform, transformation and improvement and support the message of the letter, but I suspect you and I mean something different by reform. Mine does not not involve any move away from a (largely) tax funded service (mainly) free at the point of delivery and the other core principles of the NHS as set out in the NHS Constitution for England. Nor, from my reading, are the three health think tanks calling for that given the stress they put on public support for the NHS model. As to Streeting, part of my dislike relates to internal Labour politics - he is a right wing factionalist, who during the Corbyn period publicly attacked the party and tried to damage its chances of electoral success. That never sits well with me, wherever it comes from. Specifically on his Health brief it dates back to the speech he gave to the King's Fund in 2022. While his core message - to move the emphasis from expensive acute care in hospitals and 'fixing sick people', toward more money for primary care and keeping people well in the first place - is one I 100% agree with, there were other features that alarmed me. One was the 'no more money, only reform' part - entirely unrealistic after over a decade of real terms cuts - but actually it was a couple of his specific proposals that seemed alarmingly ill-thought through and made me conclude here was another politician (see Andrew Lansley) with big but dumb ideas, which shows that he is not talking to the people who actually understand how to improve the system. To give one example, Streeting proposed people being able to self-refer into certain services without going through their GP. This would be a disaster if implemented, overwhelming scarce services with masses of 'worried well' and people not entitled to treatment. Further, self-referral wouldn't result in people being seen, it would result in everyone sitting in longer waiting lists to be seen - including the poor devils who actually need the service. Dumb, dumb, dumb. The point is that the NHS knows how to fix its problems and has done for years. Simon Stevens had the whole thing worked out until Johnson sacked him for being too independently minded. What it lacks is the cash (i.e. money for change, rather than for crisis management) and the permission to do it. The best thing Streeting could do is bin his own ideas and implement Stevens' plans. I think you can rest easy. I was reading that to switch NHS to a continental style system would take two decades at least. As we both know, no English politician is going to propose such a heresy to insular voters brainwashed into believing that the NHS is the best there is to keep them well . Thanks for your notes on Streeting. He is obviously to the right of your good self-which is OK by me . Yes budding ( and acting !) Health Secretaries open their mouths too often before understanding their task. But that in itself is a sign for me that the thing is too big to be managed in this narrow top down way. Its a joke really. I expect Streeting will do his best-and like all his predecessors end up with a desk covered in sticking plaster. No need to be brain washed Mr snide, it was doing good until your mob got there dirty grifting hands on it. |
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Post by mercian on Jul 5, 2023 21:49:02 GMT
I see that the Just Stop Oil protestors at Wimbledon have switched from orange paint to orange confetti. Perhaps it's finally got through their thick middle-class skulls that damaging grass in a protest against climate change is not ecologically sound. For some reason they also targeted last Saturday's Pride procession in London, although what they have against Coca-Cola is beyond me. Call me old-fashioned, but I think they should be shot with radioactive lead bullets and then buried where their corpses can pollute the environment. |
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Post by mercian on Jul 5, 2023 21:51:04 GMT
Let’s nuke them before they get any ideas.  All the money was spent on aircraft carriers. They are really great to stop a Russian tank invasion. About as good as tanks would be to cross the channel I suppose. I am assuming that we've packed loads of explosives in the Channel Tunnel just in case. |
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