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Booting Out Blairism

Posted July 4th, 2007 by Tom
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More encouraging signs that the departure of Blair signals the end of Blairism - the new Health Secretary Alan Johnson has started applying the brakes to the NHS reform juggernaut beloved of our late Dear Leader.

Mr Johnson told the House of Commons he accepted the government had not managed to keep the medical profession "on board" during its reform programme.
source

Well, that's putting it mildly.  I'm of the opinion that the NHS reforms are designed around the Thatcherite aims of privatisation and marginalising the medical professions, so it'll be interesting to see if appointing an actual medic to assess the current state of the service is a real Blair-bashing exercise (this is implied by the emphasis "less on central direction and more on patient control") or a symbolic sop to a highly hostile section of the public sector, to keep them quiet for a bit.  Certainly, initial reaction is that it's not a review that's needed, but a screeching stop to the damaging policies of reform inherited from Blair and another year of them while the review is carried out isn't going to cut it.

Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the British Medical Association, said: "It is disappointing that the government feels it needs to undertake a review when the problems of the NHS have been apparent to the BMA, and others, for many months."

Still, the faint breath of fresh air apparent since Blair's departure is detectable again - with Patricia Hewitt gone too the politlcal damage of admitting that things in the NHS aren't wholly wonderful isn't so great. Courage has never been a great New Labour virtue, but fortunately it doesn't need courage to blame the last guy.

anyway here is the fuckin

On July 5th, 2007 Anonymous (not verified) says:

anyway here is the fuckin news.

the fuckin news.

You think this will make a

On July 5th, 2007 Anonymous (not verified) says:

You think this will make a differance?

Don't get fooled again.

You think this will make a

On July 6th, 2007 Anonymous (not verified) says:

You think this will make a differance[sic] ?

Damn right! ID cards, 90 day detention, continued illegal  foreign policy, etc. etc. Nothing fundamental will change apart from the presentation.

p.s. 'the fukin newz' is worth a watch.

"I think we saw in the last

On July 7th, 2007 Anonymous (not verified) says:

"I think we saw in the last week the best of Britain, people coming together in the face of a terrorist threat and Britain showing to the rest of the world that we would be unyielding any time that anybody tries to do damage to our country."

"What we have got to do however is to persuade people that the values we hold important are the values of all decent people in all religions and all faiths"

-Gordon Brown, BBC News.

So things are going to be different eh?

I wish they would go to an

On July 14th, 2007 53North says:

I wish they would go to an American Private sysrem set-up..

Currently paying nearly £80 month NI......would be $80 a month in the US for a system that worked, with few waiting lists....and the possibility of the nearest 911 crew responding...not a clapped out T reg charabanc from 25 miles away..

 

 

"This ain't Rock'n'Roll - This Is Genocide". - David Bowie.