A short measure of public esteem for the Liberal Democrats is the length attached in the media to the Rt. Hon. Vincent Cable MP’s name, and the longer, the better. When fully expanded in all its parts, the LDs are in full sail, before a soldier’s wind. Vincent says they are still making good way, but Vince tells of head winds, and when crimped to Vic, stormy seas are close ahead. The day it’s V signals nothing’s left, and that’ll be the day for those who value survival to abandon ship.
Dr No mentions this barometer of public esteem since it seems to him that, while Michael Foot may have written the longest suicide note in political history, the LDs are now engaged in the longest suicide act in political history. Education and health are the twin pillars of a decent society, and having already stabbed themselves in the spleen of education, the party are now lining up to pierce themselves in the heart of health. The commodification of higher education, by establishing what is little short of a ruinously expensive insurance-in-arrears scheme, was a cynical stunt; to sit back idly while the Tories do much the same to health is a stunt too far. The British public will neither forget nor forgive. Come the next election, we shall see Clegg put back in his rightful place, a poodle in his own back yard.
Yet there are those who have had and continue to have high hopes for the political process. We have had campaigns directed first at MPs, and now at peers. There are those who still think that Dame Shirley of the Short Hair has a bold plan to stick a cold finger up the rear of the coalition’s privatisation plans. Stuff and nonsense, says Dr No! The truth is, as we have already seen, that Owen has hit the fan; and a glance at last Tuesday’s Lords’ Hansard reveals many fine words, but precious little result. The Icarian wax that binds the coalition together has yet to melt; and we will see the Bill on the books before it does.
There is a postcard doing the rounds at present. Its message is that it will not do for doctors to sit idly by while governments – all of them, but most horribly, the coalition – destroy the NHS, and all that it stands for. This pleasingly recalls and reinforces a point Dr No has made before, and makes again now, and will make again in the future.
Which is this: Labour are in the long grass, and the lust for power has poisoned the once good intentions of the LDs. The Tories will hold sway, and the Bill will be enacted. And so it is that today the NHS is hanging by a thinner cable than ever before in its history. Soon that cable will thin to a thread, and then that thread shall fray and snap. Unless – and only unless – the one group that has the power to wreck the Bill – GPs, and, yes, the patients they counsel – do what they must do, and wreck this ruinous Bill.
Anonymouse – Any more pledges and Mr Cameron will turn into house polish!
Dr No mentioned only JD and CG not to exclude others, but because JD and CG are well known and on record, and CG, through her surveys, is a conduit to the views of other GPs, the great majority of whom neither asked for nor wanted the Bill. The Bill also started life with only GPs on CCGs, although that itself being an absurdity so big it could be seen from space, the coalition quickly agreed to involve other doctors and other clinicians.
The coalition have in fact already partly attended to medical education – by racking up the tuition fee cap, which will hit medical students with their extra long courses extra hard.
The noble Lords did in fact produce a lot of noble hot air about education and training (see Hansard here (Amendment 2) and in subsequent pages), much of it on the lines that the Bill was weak on this side of things. Unsurprisingly, the difference between a minster holding a body (Health Education England) to account, compared to having direct responsibility, came up, but without obvious conclusion. We shall have to wait and see whether it comes up again more conclusively in today’s debate.
JT – a very interesting point about the ‘democratic illusion’. Our approach today appears still locked to the Churchillian way (worst form of government except all the others that have been tried), notwithstanding his appreciation of its capital defects (best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter). If we go back to Aristotle (as Dr No did here and here), we can remind ourselves that in that original account, democracy was indeed described as a deviant form of government. The problem today, as it has always been, is how to bring about the non-deviant form.
Anonymouse – having just saved my comment, have now seen yours. The Arab Spring has indeed thrown a sharp light on the risks and defects of democracy (in particular, the effects of one particular (say religious) group gaining power through a legitimate democratic process, ie open and fair election, and then abusing the power so gained). But then again democracy, even if illusory, is surely better than real despots and real dictators – and so we end up back at Churchill.
Perhaps this is over simplistic, but I think for most voters in the UK, democracy simply means going the polling booth every four years or so and placing a cross on a piece of paper. No more than that.
Witches and black cats don’t really understand what democracy really means, but like most voters we both think we understand the meaning of freedom, although that can be very complicated too as one person’s freedom may be another’s bondage.
Perhaps political discussions should dwell on the true meaning of “freedom” (and then add in “honesty” and “compassion” too), and consider ways that freedom does not degenerate into the chaos of anarchy. We should continue with the polling booth, but maybe ditch the term democracy, for this term that everyone can at least partly understand.
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