In amongst all the gaffes, blunders and cock-ups made by Councillors Freer and Coleman, we sometimes forget that there is another member of this unholy trinity. A man who despite his job at the BBC cannot work out how to use his microphone at cabinet meetings. A man who's idea of a council motion usually starts "I'd like to congratulate myself on how marvellous I am" (or words to that effect - usually as Mike Freer rolls his eyes to the heavens). A man who announced at the Mill Hill Leader Listens session that although the Police had logged 300 traffic offences a day being committed at the junction of Mill Hill Broadway and Goodwyn Avenue it wasn't a priority. A man who when I asked what the council was doing about dogging in broad daylight in front of Children at Scratchwoods open space replied "The government have legalised it so we can't do anything". He's a man so useless that his image gallery includes a picture of him personally overseeing the work at Aerodrome Road. Under his watchful eye, this has come in millions of pounds over budget, but he clearly see's it as a great success. Click HERE to find out how he boasts on his website about how he procured these contractors and what a great scheme he concocted.
Lord help us from his failures :-
Well it seems that Captain Useless - Councillor Matthew Offord to those of you who haven't had the pleasure - has put his foot in it again. He's standing as Conservative Candidate for Hendon. The last Conservative MP for Hendon was Sir John Gorst. He was a man who I had a lot of time for. Of our local MP's he was the only Tory who had the guts to vote against the closure of Edgware General Hospital. I helped organise a rally at Montrose Park and Sir John made far and away the best speech. He was a man I trusted and a man who did what he said he'd do. He lost his seat to Andrew Dismore in the Labour landslide of 1997.
My wife just got a letter through the door, personally addressed, from Captain Useless. He says "For some time now I've had concerns about the level of health services offered to women in Hendon". You and me both Captain. Mine started around 1994 when the Tories first decided that it would be a good idea to run down Edgware General Hospital. Unlike Captain Useless, who stood for Parliament in Nottingham in 2000, I have long term worries. Captain Useless may think that raising health issues in Hendon will be good for the Tories, but most of the voters, like me and unlike him, have long memories. If a good, honest candidate like Gorst can be undone, then surely he should realise that he'd be far better off keeping quiet about health or even better apologising for the mess John Majors government made of healthcare in Barnet. I'm not going to lie about this. I think the Labour government should have reopened Edgware. I think that the queues at Barnet and the MRSA problems are appalling. I've been to see Andrew Dismore and told him in no uncertain terms (no I didn't buy him lunch to get an audience either). By the end of our meeting Mr Dismore was rather visibly shaken (to be honest I felt like physically shaking him at the time). Having said that, it is plain to everyone that Labour has sunk far more into health in Barnet than the Tories ever would have. Lets face it we all know that ultimately the Tories top priority will be cutting taxes and that means worse health care and even more closures.
Any honest Tory candidate in Hendon would start their letter with an apology. Trouble is that they just don't think like that. Captain Useless isn't a local, he's a careerist politico who sees Barnet and Hendon as useful stop off points on his career. He listens but, I've yet to see any evidence of action. In the news section of his website (click HERE for a look)are there a list of personal local campaigns he's run? Nope.
One other thing that I noticed was the address of the Hendon Conservatives Campaign team - 212 Ballards Lane London N3 2 LX. That's right, the Hendon Conservatives live next door in Finchley. I suggest that if you get Offords letter you send it back with a note saying "Apologise for Edgware General". Oh and by the way the bloke who shut Edgware for Barnet PCT was Brian Salinger, who lead the Tories at the last council election. We all know how Offord knifed him in the back, the people of Hendon be warned.
To sum up Offord and his campaign - USELESS
8 comments:
Rog
You say that Tory tax cuts will result in worse health care and more hospital closures, yet the billions ‘extra’ which Labour have poured into the NHS have failed to bring about the improvements to front line patient care which are needed.
The public are not stupid. They see how Labour has squandered our taxes. They know that it is not the amount of money you spend, but how you spend it which matters.
Labour have wasted our money creating thousands of non jobs for pen pushers and bean counters. There is enormous scope to cut waste and bureaucracy from the system yet improve patient care at the same time.
David,
The problem is that there is an expensive layer of management that didn't exist 30 years ago. They will ensure that any cuts are directed elsewhere, Turkeys don't vote for Xmas. The pen pushers are creations of both Labour and Tory governments.
I guess we'll never agree on this, but if anyone can tell me how the tories (or anyone else) will be able to cut management without affecting front line services in the real world, then I'd certainly be very interested. It's all rhetoric and we've heard it all before.
I genuinely believe the health service is in better shape than in 1997 but I also think that health will always be a bottomless moneypit. I genuinely don't know what the answer is when expensive new cancer treatments are developed which prolong life by 6 months and cost 1/2 a million quid.
After Aerodrome Road cost overruns, I certainly wouldn't want Offord in charge of sorting out the problems. That's one thing I'm sure of !!!!!!
Rog
The answer, which you won’t like, is privatisation. NHS hospitals haven’t a clue how much anything costs. Private hospitals do. Let’s have a voucher scheme allowing patients to have treatment at the hospital of their choice and at a time of their choosing.
Such a scheme would create a massive explosion in privately run hospitals (no cost to taxpayers) leaving the state to provide only for accident and emergency treatment.
The cost of providing vouchers will be far less than the state actually providing that service. The same principle applies to education!
The government should also make health insurance tax deductible, the cost of which would be far less than the state providing treatment.
David,
Under your scheme costs would rocket. A new level of adminstration would need to be introduced to administer the vouchers. Treatment would become like the USA where millions of unnecessary tests are run and anti-biotics are prescribed for everything, leading to the rise of resistant strains of bacteria. The Yanks pay nearly twice what we do for healthcare per person for a far worse system for these reasons. The system you are suggesting is similar to what they did with British Rail and that hasn't exactly saved money.
You were right about one thing. I didn't like the idea !
Rog
If you allow the swivel eyed Trots who currently “run” the NHS to manage a voucher scheme, then yes I imagine chaos would ensue. However, if you entrust the job to organisations like BUPA and PPP, the result would be somewhat different.
Ask yourself how many other countries follow the British model of healthcare and then ask yourself why. The simple truth is that the system is broken. Like Windows 3, there are just so many patches you can put up with before you have to scrap everything and start again.
The Conservatives have always been afraid to tackle this problem to avoid accusations of privatising the NHS. Tony Blair had a real opportunity to do something radical and different when he came to power, but Gordon wouldn’t let him.
The NHS has had too many upgrades. It’s time to start again with a clean sheet of paper.
David,
I don't actually think the NHS does a bad job. I just think it has a few big problems (mostly caused by politicians). I personally don't think that BUPA or PPP would add anything other than more lawyers, accountants and costs. What would happen would be a massive exercise for expensive consultants to draw up a new structure, hordes of lawyers drawing up new contracts, armies of accountants arguing over bills and low pay and bad conditions for the employees.
As to making private healthcare tax deductable, I don't think that giving tax breaks to the wealthier members of society is the best idea in the current climate. No more people get treated, it just changes the order in which they're treated. I've no objection to private healthcare in a free country, I just don't agree with it being subsidised. I'd have no objection to PPP and Bupa building hospitals etc and the NHS buying services from them. I have more objection to private operations in NHS hospitals, where NHS patients are bumped down the list.
Rog
You are agreeing with my proposals! You say “I'd have no objection to PPP and Bupa building hospitals etc and the NHS buying services from them.” That is no different from a voucher scheme. “Need a new hip? Here’s a gift certificate good at any hospital on this list.”
Whilst I agree that NHS hospitals should not have private wards, I completely disagree with the basis of your objection to making health insurance tax deductible - which you see as a tax break for those cosseted by family money! My private health insurance means that I will not be a burden on the state if I need hospital treatment (A&E excepted). The cost of providing a tax break is far less than the cost of providing healthcare.
I choose to use a private GP service because it costs £50 a time (which thankfully I can afford) and it allows me to see a doctor straight away. This relieves the pressure on my NHS surgery where it can sometimes take several days just to get through on the phone to make an appointment.
1970s socialists will argue that this creates a two tier health service. But the reality is that if everyone sought treatment on the NHS only, the system would collapse.
The same principle applies to private education, which we can argue about another time!
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