Tom Harris has a good blog today regarding Labour’s propensity to shout ‘wolf’ every time the Government make an announcement.

http://tinyurl.com/2wsjthn

 

A prime example of this was Andy Burnham’s performance on Newsnight earlier in the week. Andy made much of the allocation of NHS funding, whilst failing to mention that in his one year tenure, he spent £260 milllion on management consultants alone, something Andrew Lansley put a stop to by imposing a consultancy spending moratorium on day one.

 

The opposition have also begun to describe GPs as the private sector within the NHS. Another wolf.

I assume, in an attempt to devalue and undermine the role of the family GP, in order to denigrate our NHS GP commissioning policy.

 

This is the most disingenuous line of attack. Each GP trains for seven years and then a further three to four years, often more, in order to become a GP.

They are professional, highly skilled and qualified individuals.

 

If I had any complaint regarding GPs, it would be that they have become too process driven. Over the last ten years they have spent more time attempting to reach targets, because they were made to, than worrying about outcomes.

 

All that will now change with the emphasis in future being very much on outcomes.

 

GPs will no longer have the PCT breathing down their neck, watching every penny they spend and on who, telling them what services they can procure and which they can’t.

 

In future, patients will be able to sit in front of a GP and the massive forest of bureaucracy which stood in the way of patients accessing services will have been taken away.

 

Decisions regarding care, drugs, treatment will be made between the GP and the patient. No decision will be taken about a patient, without that patient being fully involved. No longer will the decision be taken by the faceless PCT.

 

Now how could anyone wish to deny patients that level of control over their own lives?

 

Was that a howl I just heard?

I am very strongly a first past the poster and will now blog more regularly with anything which catches my eye in order to make the case.

Love this from Tom Harris MP this morning.

http://www.tomharris.org.uk/

I would consider Tweeting again, just for this cause, however, a certain blogger has apparently taken every possible permutation of my name you can imagine.

I have today written to David Willetts, in the hope that he will put a stop to what is a serious A level scandal. I have applied for an adjournment debate on the subject and hope that if successfully called, when he responds, he will be able to provide the re assurances that a practice which has been in operation for many years will have seen its last day.

In order to explain the scandal in detail, I shall use the schools in my own county of Bedfordshire to explain how it works. However, this situation apparently occurs every year, across the country in all counties.

At 8am on Thursday morning last, the day of A level results, Bedford Modern Independent School in Bedford, a truly excellent school, opened it’s doors at 8am in order to hand out the A level results to students.

I think we all know what a rough year it was this year for A level students. Many did not get the University or course of their choice. There was a mad scramble for clearing however, clearing also only had a limited number of places on offer and they were allocated on a first come first come first served basis.

At 8.40am the head of UCAS was quoted on the radio stating that hundreds of children had already been through clearing. Obviously attempting to secure the few places there were. 

Why is this scandal?

Because the state schools didn’t open their doors to hand out results until 9.30am.

Which meant that across the country, what places were available in clearing, may have gone to children from the independent sector, not the state.

Now, I have nothing against the independent sector. They have ably demonstrated their commitment to their pupils and used what they had to their advantage. Their teachers got out of bed and into school at 7am and were ready and waiting with advice and help and instant solutions to the problems the children faced. And for the cynics, no more cheques arrive. They don’t really even have an obligation on this day other than to hand out the results.

Those pupils who needed to went straight to computers in the school and were in clearing by 8.30. An hour before the state school teachers in Bedfordshire had even arrived at the school.

At one of the upper schools in Mid Bedfordshire, children were queuing for their results at 9.20 and told they couldn’t have them until 9.30.

I have laid down Parliamentary questions requesting detailed information re clearing. I want to know how many children from the independent sector had entered clearing v state in fifteen minute breakdowns during the morning from 8am onwards.

I have had it confirmed by individual Universities that places are offered on a first come first served basis.

I also want to know how many independent school children were offered places from 8am onwards v state.

It has to stop. All children should be given their results at exactly the same time, regardless of where they are educated.

This will either mean the teachers in the state sector have to get into school earlier to coincide with the time clearing opens, or independent schools will have to twiddle their thumbs and wait for the state school teacher to arrive. Either or, it has to stop.

I read with a sense of relief, in the Mail on Sunday, that Michael Howard, is to lead the call for an enquiry into the death of Dr David Kelly http://tinyurl.com/392f64j 
I cannot understand, given the obvious, huge, question marks hanging over the cause of his death, why this has taken so long.
The ulnar artery is tiny and not easy to get at. Due to the presence of coagulating enzymes in the blood, if Dr Kelly had managed to rupture the ulnar artery, using the blunt vegetable knife, it would have naturally stopped bleeding at any point from three minutes onward.

Could the grass have absorbed enough of the blood, which would have been thickening by the second, straight into the soil without trace? If he had lost enough blood via the ulnar artery to kill him within the three (can be up to 7-8)  minutes then surely it would have been too much to have been absorbed and there would have been puddles of coagulated blood lying on top of the grass.

Obviously, I'm no expert, however, it doesn't take a huge amount of knowledge to smell a rat.

Well done to Michael Howard. Bring on a full and official enquirey. His family deserve that at the very least.

According to a YouGov survey, 62% of people think the idea of short term council house tenancy is a good idea. I wonder how many of the people who took part in the survey live in council houses?

Interesting phone call this morning in which a little Dickie bird tells me that Vince Cable would be interested in my idea of using the Government owned banks to structure a lending package for council house purchase. The proceeds of which, would be channeled into a further package to finance the building of new social housing, which would ensure a more adequate supply. Thereby, giving everyone a fairer chance of securing a house and an almost definite 'leg up' in terms of social mobility.

The problem with social housing today is that those striving to improve their situation are excluded. As an example, two newly married rural workers in my constituency who between them earn £27k pa have applied for social housing. Because they are sleeping on a sofa at a parents house they are not officially classed as homeless. Nor do they have a baby. What they want is a home first, however, due to the shortage, the only way they can get one is if they split up and she becomes homeless and pregnant. A drug problem would help their case too.

That is the legacy of Labour to the young and struggling would be family.

The link to my leader article in the Mail on Sunday is up on Conservative Home. http://conservativehome.blogs.com/
I have just recorded an interview with Andrew Pierce for LBC. Andrew also grew up in a council house, where his mum still lives, and has done for over 50 years.

I have just written an article for the Mail on Sunday, re council housing.
As I write this, they are sending a photographer to photograph the house I grew up in.
I find this quite exciting. I haven't been back for years and not having a photograph of the house myself, I can't wait to see it.
Here is a link to my interview on the Today programme this morning, which should provide a flavour of what the article is about.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8894000/8894321.stm

It's a windy day today.

So, there I was sat at my desk working when someone opened my office door. In walked a gust of wind. It lifted my idiots guide to IPSA right up from my desk and into the air. It took it all the way across the room up and out of the balcony doors straight onto the Atrium roof - where I can't reach it.

And there I think it shall stay.

The Times should be awarded for the coverage it has given to the case of Sakineh Mohammabi Ashtiani and the decision of the Iranian authorities not to bury her two thirds into the ground and stone her to death by an all male death squad.

It would be hard for anyone in the Western world who has heard of this case to open their arms and embrace Iran and almost impossible for those who know nothing of Iran and it’s people to understand that the ruling Iranian regime is as far removed from it’s people as it is possible to be.

The other day, I heard from one of my daughters and her friend who were in Theran. This is what they wrote on a personal blog for family and friends…

‘On landing in Tehran we had a look at our flight details for our connection. We had 12 hours to wait before our one hour flight to Esfahan from a different airport in Tehran. A lady approached us and had a look at our details. She told us to come with her back to her apartment to sleep and eat before we caught our next flight. Usually we would say no to strangers and not get in cars with them, but our Lonely Planet book on Iran said to always accept invitations by Iranians as they are so famous for their hospitality - so we went with it. She seemed lovely too. She arranged and paid for our taxi to her flat. It was huge and so posh! I don’t know if that was normal in Iran but we were impressed anyway. Huge silver chandeliers, Persian rugs, designer everything. She gave us tea and fruit and made up the bedroom for us to sleep in, they had the sofas.

We had a good giggle with them trying to learn Farsi then went to sleep.

At 9 15 am the lady woke us up for a big Iranian breakfast spread she’d made just for us.

They wrote down all the essential Farsi we’d need and a few recommendations for food etc and their contact details in case we don’t get our Pakistan visa. They said to come and stay with them again. They booked our taxi to the airport and sent us on our way with a bag full of fruits, sweets and Saudi Arabian cigars?? They all smoke here so I think it was a standard gift. They also changed money for us as it was a Friday and no banks would be open. They gave us a very honest rate too.

I knew these people were hospitable but I didn’t expect that the second we landed in their country they would treat us like Kings. I felt quite embarrassed at one point. They let us sleep in their bedroom full of make up, perfume, jewels etc and trusted us completely. Iran gets bad press in our country sometimes; it would be nice to see this side of it represented more openly in the UK’

Notice how she doesn’t mention names. The couple who took in my daughter and her friend were acting as ambassadors for their country. It is important to ordinary Iranian’s (the posh ones too!) for the world to understand that Iranian people will share our horror at the prospect of Sakineh having received 99 lashes, to then face death by stoning.

Throughout the reporting of this awful situation, it is vital to remember and remind people that this is a corrupt regime. That over a hundred innocent Iranians, many who were students were executed and lost their own lives in protest to anti democratic elections. That this is a regime which executes children, which wants to see Israel blown off the face of the earth and day by day comes one step closer to reaching it’s nuclear dream.

Sakineh Mohammabi Ashtiani is a woman more sinned against than sinned. Let’s hope that the International attention which her case is receiving achieves some good in forcing the barbaric administration of Ahmadinejad to retreat and think twice before they condemn another woman to stoning.

I want to thank the couple who took in, fed and looked after my offspring as though they were their own flesh and blood and to repay them by doing my bit. To let people know that we must not allow this situation to colour our view of Iran.

One day its people hope to take their country back and we must do everything we can to assist them and help bring about their own regime change from within, to one where no woman will ever face a lashing or stoning again.

I have been hit by the ‘Gherson ‘ factor today.

For anyone who has seen the ‘Ghersonesque’ article, I would just like to point out the following.

 

The ‘former employee’ left my employment following a mutual agreement that it was time to go. This agreement was reached when he went for lunch at 1pm and returned at 9am the following morning. It was clear that his extra curricular, recreational habits were interfering with his work.

 

He was desperate to become a Conservative MP and applied to become a candidate, he was rejected.

 

He then wrote his own reference from my office and found himself another job, which I have been told, was advertised in the national press a couple of weeks ago.

 

He attempted to smear another Conservative candidate before me in the local newspapers, but it didn’t work.

 

That candidate won last Thursday.

 

He didn’t go to the papers with his fictitious story during the expenses crisis; he went two weeks into the election campaign. The Liberal Democrat opponent was the only other person he appears to have discussed this with, as verified by her indiscreet comments on Twitter.

 

The ‘friend’ I employ was an employee before becoming a friend. We met as a result of my employing her.

 

I am friends with everyone I employ and count amongst my friends people I have employed in the past. Minus one it would appear.

 

The ‘friend’ I employ still works for me. The details of her work and job description are held with and approved by the Parliamentary authorities.

 

The remainder of my Sunday will be spent writing thank you letters. Over 29,000 of them :)

George Pitcher has written this article in the Telegraph which makes a very salient point. The Liberal Democrat party gave Evan Harris a platform for his own cause. He was not 'political' and I don't believe I ever heard him mention his constituency once in the chamber.

He was known as 'Dr Death' by most MPs and journalists, so zealous was his attitude towards abortion and euthanasia.

http://tinyurl.com/26jrk8u

I want to say a quick thank you to David Reeves, who was my Labour opponent during the election.

Feisty and true to his principles in debate, David was a complete gentleman, professional, a thoroughly nice man and very kindly. He was totally loyal to Labour and defended Gordon Brown at every turn. 

My family thought he was lovely too, he has a little fan club now!

Good luck in the future David. There is a seat somewhere with your name on it. It's just not my seat :)