Coalition’s NHS vision: diluting standards and incentivising profit
Health Secretary Lansley is pushing ahead with dilution of NHS universal standards and promoting risky plans giving GPs total budget control to buy all NHS care.
public spending
Fears for Scotland’s military bases
According to reports in this weekend’s edition of Scotland on Sunday, sources within the Ministry of Defence have confirmed that major RAF and army bases across Scotland face possible closure as part of budget cuts.
A Thatcherite horror sequel
When George Osborne delivers his first Budget on Tuesday, the re-run will be of the Thatcherism of the early 1980s. And, with much bigger cuts to public spending and no North Sea oil bonanza, it will be much worse.
Coalition cuts are bad news for jobseekers
The Coalition Government has been keen to express sympathy for those facing unemployment. But in contrast to these sentiments, the Government’s main labour market policy so far has been to cut support for unemployed people.
Look Left – The Week in Fast Forward
A look back at the week’s news, including the outcome of the Saville Inquiry, the £2bn Lib-Con spending cuts and Rupert Murdoch’s move for total control of BSkyB.
What’s the damage?
We have been warned that next week’s Emergency Budget could bring pain for years to come. Cameron’s coalition has promised that such pain is inevitable but that the medicine will be administered fairly. But there remain many questions about what such ‘fairness’ means in practice.
R.I.P – Conservative “efficiency savings”
After the announcement of a further £2bn cuts today it seems as though we can wave goodbye to the pre-election “efficiency savings” policy championed by the Tories.
Reform’s masochistic fiscal folly
If Reform’s programme were implemented it would see government spending fall to 38.7 per cent – lower than under any Conservative government since the 1960s.
No case to cut more than Labour
In the March Budget, Labour set out plans to cut public spending by £38 billion. The OBR’s report today provides no justification to go any further next week.
Look Left – The Week in Fast Forward
This week saw more evidence of just how savage the Coalition’s cuts would be, while for Labour, the final five who made the leadership shortlist were unveiled.