Government Watch - 2

Hunt has accused Hawking of pernicious falsehood over saying that NHS is being privatised. Hunt doesn't know what's going on, obviously.

inews.co.uk/essentials/news/health/nhs-estates-surplus-land-strategy/

Three companies involved through the Naylor report, one of them Assura, which is owned by Virgin Healthcare.

"Private investors are already weighing in. Last week, the UK’s three leading primary care property investment funds pledged £3.3bn to “kick-start next generation of NHS medical centres” and support the Naylor recommendations. Primary Health Properties plc, Octopus Healthcare and Assura plc, said their pledge could fund as many as 750 state of the art primary care centres through third party development across the country over the next parliament.

Sir Robert welcomed the pledge. “It is encouraging to see the private sector step forward to play their part in meeting the recommendations set out in my review published earlier this year – with a credible plan and offer on the table for the NHS and Government to respond to,” he said.

“Investment to improve and grow a fit-for-purpose NHS estate is absolutely critical after years of underinvestment… The NHS needs a workable model for estates investment that sees genuine value delivered in the long-term – the 3PD proposition put forward is clearly a step in the right direction.” "

•" Peterborough Civic Society, along with the local newspaper and residents, has been campaigning for a new city centre cycle/footbridge across the city’s river Nene. Our city council has said that it cannot currently afford the £2.5m necessary for the project. This figure pales into insignificance when compared with the £37m of public money wasted on the now abandoned Thames garden bridge. I wonder if Joanna Lumley and chums could just check down the back of their sofas and, if any loose change turns up, please chuck it our way.
Toby Wood
Vice-chairman, Peterborough Civic Society"

A letter in the Guardian.

You need a good sense of humour to read this without swearing.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/aug/18/bridge-940m-bill-boris-johnsons-mayora-vanity-projects-garden-bridge-routemaster-bus

This is the man who is in charge of Brexit. How much will he cost us there on abortive projects?

good humour

I bet he wished he hadn't now, the number of experts who disagree with Hunt.
I like this comment from Madders.

"The shadow health minister, Justin Madders, weighed in on the row: “It doesn’t take a genius to work out the Tories are wrecking the NHS.

“Professor Hawking has given us answers to many of the universe’s most challenging questions, and even he can’t work out why Jeremy Hunt is still in his job.” "

Oh I didn't see that dj !!!

Mind you its worth posting twice!

The arrogance

Love this

Stephen Hawking as criticised this government over its treatment of the NHS.

Cringe worthy embarrassment as Hunt tries to suggest that Professor Hawking doesn't understand the evidence.

Hunt again. I can't believe he's telling Stephen Hawking that he's wrong about statistics.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/aug/19/jeremy-hunt-says-stephen-hawking-is-wrong-on-the-nhs

The story I saw, Maizie, was that there are other shower facilities in the building, but this is for Hunt's personal use, so he doesn't have to mix with the others.

www.welfareweekly.com/dwp-announce-plans-axe-800-jobs/

DWP doing really well, to announce this after the unemployment figures are out.

According to the story from The Times the DoH have responded by saying that Hunt requested a facility for cyclists and joggers in line with those provided at other DoH establishments. Of course, it doesn't say whether he is the only cyclist/jogger in the building who will have access to it. (I don't know how readable the image of the story will be)

Trending on twitter

Hunt has claimed £44k for a new bathroom on expenses!

Wonder how many nurses could afford to pay that?

www.theguardian.com/business/2017/aug/13/half-of-landlords-in-one-london-borough-fail-to-declare-rental-income

I hope all our MPs have declared the rent they collect to the taxman.

I see Davishas accepted a lucrative position to the tune of £100k with Copper1909.

The director Hannah was dismissed from JP Morgan having been found guilty of market abuse. He was later fined £450k by the FSA - one of the largest individual fines ever handed down.

Davis gave Hannah his undivided support in a recent court case appealing the fine. The fine was upheld.

It still annoys me that the bankers got away with little punishment after causing such distress to many people. I assume that most of the staff at Lehman's who lost their jobs were able to find employment at another bank.

An interesting article by Richard Murphy.

"There has been much, unsurprising, discussion to mark the tenth anniversary of the start of the Global Finanical Crisis this week. I think that appropriate: I still have contributions to that discussion to come. But something else caught my eye this morning. The NHS now has the longest waiting lists in a decade. And this matters: it is an issue of cause and effect.

It was bankers who created the Crisis. It wasn’t Labour. It wasn’t excess spending. If either had been true it would not have started elsewhere and been global. Excessive banking practices, deliberate deception and a far too relaxed attitude to regulation, based on neoliberal thinking, was what created the Crash.

Discussion on the anniversary has noted all too often how banking has recovered and is now robust and ready for the next downturn, which few now deny is on its way. I agree with the latter, I am not sure banking is that much stronger (time will tell) and like many I remain quite appropriately aggrieved at banks’ and bankers’ near risk free recovery.

But what has been too little noticed is the effect. The lost wages. The growing inequality. The creation of insecurity for most people as the price of strengthened bank balance sheets.

And NHS waiting lists: the sign that the state has shrunk under a wholly unnecessary policy of austerity that has let the neoliberals win and cost us all, dearly. When the economy demanded more government Osborne et al delivered it less precisely so that the bankers and their neoliberal guides could deliver lower taxes to the wealthy, which is what their philosophy demands and what they got.

They ignore the pain, the anxiety and the suffering. Preserving wealth is all that matters and if you have not got it then you do not have the right, in their opinion, to complain. This is their logic. And it has been the logic of too many politicians in this country as well.

Ten years on we – or rather, the vast majority of us – are paying the price for that. For the bankers and their clients the Crisis did not go to waste. We have to hope next time it will be different. "

Cause and effect. It didn't have to be this way, though. It's only because of Tory ideology and the will to privatise the NHS.

I could have also put this under other threads. In fact it's amazing how many articles I read these days are covered by many threads.

Figures out today show that trade with the EU has gone up by 2% and down by 1.4% with the rest of the world.

uk.businessinsider.com/sir-michael-leigh-may-brexit-munich-1938-2017-8

politicalscrapbook.net/2017/08/hunt-delivers-only-a-third-of-nhs-med-school-places-promised-at-tory-party-conference/

BMA doesn't think much of the Tory promise to train more doctors.

My MP has signed EDM 152 to try and stop the government selling off NHSP.
Do any of you know if yours has?

Then I noticed this on the same website.

secure.gravatar.com/avatar/9e41d63313f7c7d167a3f6ff377ee99d?s=320

And I've just read this as well, and it's made me so angry.

jaynelinney.wordpress.com/2017/08/09/exclusive-disability-discrimination-means-son-is-removed-from-home/

Thanks for the information Jen.

The government has woken up at last to the problems of staffing the NHS.

www.gov.uk/government/news/1500-extra-medical-undergraduate-places-confirmed

How long does it take to train a doctor?

An interesting update. Weownit has been blocked by various stakeholders in the selloff of NHSP.

weownit.org.uk/nhsp-no-sale

So you'll have to email separately from now on.
At least they know weownit exists.

"The “Still Too Poor to Pay” report said some boroughs had even introduced charges for disabled and unemployed residents for the first time. This pushed more than 131,000 London households into arrears last year. Where bailiffs are used, their fees are added to a claimant’s council tax arrears — which the charities said meant “inflating the debt and making it harder for households to repay”.

In the eyes of profiteers, there’s money to be made from debt, especially from the poor. Privatisation of the court bailiff system is like privatising parking enforcement – and look where that led – scandal after scandal. The civilianisation of law enforcement has always proved to be much worse than when managed by government with civilian scrutiny. This, like so many other privatisation projects this will end in failure with the over-stretched citizenry shouldering the burden of government incompetence and the poor exploited even further."

From Eloethan's link.

Anyone concerned about all the privatisation go to weownit and sign up to everything you can to try and stop it.
A few million more signatures would be very useful.

Did Brexiteers really think the government was going to let the British people take back control?