02.03.11
Awaiting a crescendo
The Telegraph’s deputy editor Ben Brogan foresees a “symphony of opposition” from NHS interest groups to the reforms contained in the health bill, of which we have “heard only the opening bars”.
He may be worrying too much, pessimistic as he is about the electoral chances of Conservative MPs in seats whose hospitals and other healthcare services are gradually stripped and closed as market logic takes hold.
The groups opposed have very different interests, and oppose and support different reforms. Others are concerned with specific aspects of it, such as the pace of the reform or the communication strategy involved.
Plus, the Government has shown no sign of back-tracking. Health Secretary Andrew Lansley seems to be a politician of the George Osborne mould – the Chancellor with his ‘there is no plan B’ mantra – unlike, for example, the back-tracking and U-turning Education Secretary, Michael Gove.
The bill’s opponents are unlike to kill it off, but whether it survives in its current form remains to be seen.
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