Agree that the media have played a significant part in all this, if you tell folk enough times that we're in recession then yep we will be pretty soon.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave B
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Agree that the media have played a significant part in all this, if you tell folk enough times that we're in recession then yep we will be pretty soon.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave B
I'd lay off the wacky backy if I were youQuote:
Originally Posted by Daniel
Poorly. How do you think the Bristol Royal Infirmary scandal, Shipman and Alder Hey happened? There simply was no nationwide quality control system and the free-economy system within the NHS was in its infancy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bolton Midnight
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2...labour-deficitQuote:
Britain's debt at the outset of the economic crisis was the second-lowest in the G7 and lower than it was under the Conservatives in 1997 and says neither of the parties in the coalition government called for lower spending at the time.
Perhaps Bolton Midnight will be able to prove that this is incorrect.
That's demonstrably not always true. Sensible investment can stimulate growth, and in times of recession it can sometimes be cheaper to make that investment as labour is usually cheaper.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bolton Midnight
If you "slashing and burning" at this rate you'll spend a fortune in redunancy payments; and at a time when the private sector are not picking up the slack at anything like the rate which Osborne predicted, you'll also end up spending a fortune in benefits to the unemployed you create.Quote:
State pensions are a massive time bomb, even the public sector has not a clue how that is going to be funded. It needs to be massively cut - slash and burn only way to sort out the oversized state that Labour created.
The original Conservative plans centred on natural wastage: not replacing those who retire or leave, and not renewing temporary contracts as they come to a planned end. This would have been sensible. Instead they're swinging the axe and pinning all their hopes on the private sector which, thus far, has not taken up the challenge. It's the politics of desperation.
I think it is odd that the Tories claimed they wouldn't have any large top-down reorganisations but the nature of their reforms are broadly in line with what the Tories proposed back during the time of the junior doctors demonstration back in 2007 or so.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave B
I think its clear that Andrew Lansley had been working on the reforms for a long while without the leadership being fully informed as to its nature and extent given how well thought out it is (in extent at least). It certainly wasn't cobbled together between the election and July last year when it was published.
That in my mind raises questions about the level of communications inside the Tory party but thats a seperate matter entirely.
In terms of postcode lotteries part of the reforms are designed to ensure that treatment pathways across Britain become more uniform although I'm sure some degree of inequality will persist.
Shipman was busiest under Labour government etcQuote:
Originally Posted by Dylan H
Hospitals far worse under Labour than pre 97
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/he...ath-rates.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti....html?ITO=1490
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11696735
Yup, and GDP growth during the last quarter of 2010 before the government cuts are really going to kick in was -0.5%. Even corrected for the poor weather it was -0.1%, and this is despite a weak pound boosting exports.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave B
I think its pretty clear we can expect the private sector NOT to fill the gap left by government cutbacks.
And on top an increasing number of financial institutions are preparing for a hard landing in China when their credit bubble bursts later this year which could worsen the economic climate even more.
A double-dip recession is getting more and more likely.
Shipman was caught in 98. He was probably killing since he graduated from medical school, most of which was under the Tory government, though he would have done the same under any government. He was not caught because the means weren't there to assess and catch him quickly enough. That is no longer the case.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bolton Midnight
Your links really are poor, there is no attempt at comparison with any other time period. Meanwhile waiting lists have been slashed and mortality rates for most major diseases have improved albeit slightly. On just about any quality measure the NHS improved under Labour, and this is coming from someone who absolutely hated the Bliar government.
Back in 1983 a government report "blamed inefficient management and structures within the NHS for the cash problems".
Little changes. Public services get kicked around like a political football. Every new government blames the previous government for its failings, promise to rectify all the faults, and introduce sweeping 'new' changes that take years to implement (if only partially) by which time there's a new government and the whole process starts again.