Lansley's "pause"

So Lansley says he will press the "pause" button on the Health and Social Care Bill. Cameron says he will "listen" to the concerns of people, but changes have to go ahead. In the teeth of public and professional opposition to the Bill, the timetable is to be delayed. Handing over £80 billion to GPs to commission services is a gamble with patients' lives.

And now, in a slight side-step Clegg (on Breakfast TV) says people are worried about the way the money will be allocated and worried about the role of the private sector. "We will listen to concerns and distinguish between those which are mis-placed and those which are genuine and legitimate". So, there you have it. That is the listening and explaining strategy. People don't understand. If they have concerns that the Government disagrees with, they are mis-placed. Health professionals, the health select committee, the people who work in the NHS and patients have "mis-placed" concerns.

Clegg talked of unaccountable officials moving money around from one side of the desk to another, and continued: "We will take a step back for a couple of months by stopping the legislative clock ... we want to bring people along with us." So there will be a couple of months pause to allow the spin to work its magic on the "mis-placed concerns".

I get the impression the Government hopes that the opposition to the Bill will waver and hope that once people have got if off their chests, it can continue driving these backward changes through.

I know that UNISON won't drop its opposition because its members working in the NHS know how damaging this Bill will be to patient care, to equality of treatment and that it signals privatisation through the front door.

Jury's, Liverpool and UNISON Health

In Liverpool for UNISON health conference being held at the fantastic new conference centre. Great, helpful staff and lovely views over the Mersey. Outside the press room, there's a balcony that gives you the feel of the prow of a large ocean-going vessel. Delegates settling in now. On the agenda today: Address by UNISON health chair Lilian Macer, emergency motion on the sell-off of parts of the blood service and debates on protecting the NHS against privatisation and cuts. See that Cameron is talking about listening and explaining more. Perhaps he should listen more and spin less. Staying in Jury's Inn is a strange experience. Wardrobes with no doors and small enough to get a child's clothes in, liquid soap and shower gel screwed to the wall and a force nine gale blowing in the bathroom all night. I didn't sleep very tight.

The papers - 2 February, 2011

Great picture on front page of Indy and Morning Star - a great mass of people - million people on the streets to demand change, Robert Fisk reporting from Cairo. Other front pages share the story from the sober "Mubarak paves way for exit" of the FT, The Times "Mubarak's long goodbye" to the Sun"s "They sphinx it's all over". This is the news that Mubarak has finally accepted that he has to go .... but not until September when there will be elections.

Two other stories sold the front pages this morning - Daily Star and the Sun went with the celeb sex hook of the continuing saga of Jordan with Simon Cowell getting in on the act. Mirror and DT splashed with the other 9/11 plotters: the news that secret papers reveal that a gang got away followed up inside by most other papers. Mirror headline "Hell's kitchen" by far the most emotive.

The Express reports demands for adult only flights after noisy children were cited in a survey as the pet hate and news that boffins found that stilletos tone up your legs - waytogo guys. Another drone about Europe - yet another line in the sand - from a Tory MP, via the Mail, with a pix of St Helen Mirren to brighten up the front page. The same story splashed by the Scotsman - it's all aboutEurope opening door for Scottish prisoners to claim compensation for being denied the vote.

UNISON General Secretary, Dave Prentis, is quoted in the Mirror on the NHS - Cameron is dubbed Dr Spin as he claims a long list of groups back his reforms - I never considered 5 as a long list. On the other hand we have 20 who oppose the reforms. http://bit.ly/fcFdWw and Kevin Maguire sticks the knife in on his page.

Interesting analysis of who will be hit hardest by Osborne's tax plans is covered by most. Lovely pix in Guardian of a masterpiece by Pieter Bruegel drawing our attention to the tiny detail of a family throwing sticks at a tied-up goose. Can see it now through a google art project which captures the paintings in super-duper high-res mega giga pixies - maybe it wasn't meant to be seen with the human eye?

And Morning Star loved its front page so much, it also put it on page 3 - perhaps other papers could take note.

The papers - 31 January, 2011

Egypt had to be the dominant news story in all the papers today. Indy splashed with great pix of burning of image of the country’s president Mubarak with a report from Robert Fisk; the same pix was used in the Times splash. Guardian reported that change was coming and, finally, the US using the language of orderly transition to indicate an acceptance of that change. FT splashed with the story as did City:am telling us the impact on the markets.

The red tops kept the story mostly inside and mostly about the impact on Brits, with acres of coverage of “first-hand accounts of terror by returning Brits” (Mail); Brits trying to get home (Express); Brits told to leave country and game over Mubarak (Mirror) “Tyranny in the sky” (Sun) referring to the show of force of F16s to try to frighten the popular uprising. The Sun, however, despite splashing with an anarchist threat to the Royal Wedding, also reported on the front page “30,000 Brits in riot hell). And, linking the two together, repeated the Charles and Camilla in riot hell pix from the recent protests against the rise in tution fees.

Predictably the tabloids, kept their splashes distinctive with the Express crusading against EU laws that would threaten the value of pensions (as opposed to public sector pensions which the Express wants to threaten). The Mail has a “dignity for the elderly” campaign splashing with the news that 600 elderly had died of thirst in the past five years. This story was repeated inside the Express in its “crusade for respect for the elderly” campaign.

The Mirror leads with the sad story of three teenagers who died on a joy-ride with “Waste of Life”, but the Daily Star continues with its serialization of the trials and tribulations of Jordan, not the country.

But the Morning Star leads with reports from around Britain of protests against our own Government, including @UKuncut targeting high street stores for not paying their taxes. And the Telegraph with a story about cuts to teacher training.

Most papers also reported that a whole load of people would be brought into the higher tax band, including teachers, nurses and train drivers. And most ran a pic of Ed Miliband in protective vest on his visit to troops plus the news that Nick Clegg doesn’t want paperwork to do after 3pm, showing that, to him, politics is a game.

ends

The papers - 27 January, 2011

Keys and phone hacking jostle with each other this morning to gain our attention.

Independent charges in with the hacking story citing the “next turn of the screw”, using pix of 4 key players – Coulson, Edmondson, Murdoch and Brooks - in faded black and white that look like wanted posters. Guardian joins the splash with more details and analysis inside.

Lots of comment about the impact on Murdoch and BSkyB future – will it be ByeSkyB? Had hacking spread to the Sun?

Naaah, Sun splashes with Keys to the Door and seems suddenly obsessed with Cheryl Cole’s back plus a double pager inside on its petition delivered to Downing Street to cut fuel tax. The name is a gift and the Mirror uses “Lost Keys” and inside “Leer we go”.

Telegraph runs pix of rueful Keys, but splashes with a warning from the military (you can imagine the generals harrumphing) that scrapping Nimrod would pose a jolly large risk to our security. Express runs same pix of Keys and inside Keys rant on radio about “dark forces”, but splashes with story about Equitable Life scandal that denies 1m people a large part of their savings.

The Mail is clearly bored with the two main stories and goes on a crusade about speed cameras – apparently half of them are not working - illustrated with a picture of a gorilla walking like a man.

The FT and the Times runs the pix, used by most, of a woman in Egypt b@ll%^ing a riot policeman amidst the reported “growing unrest”. Times deals with the hacking story by informing its readership that the NoTW had handed over new (or was it old) evidence to the police and sacked someone.

The FT’s companies and markets section provides us with the news that Barclays has been fined GBP1.1m mixing up accounts over 8 years. A lot of money to you and me, but small beer to Barclays.

It takes City:am to splash, with a little glee, that the Government will today announce “sweeping reforms” to ETs (that’s Employment Tribunals and not cute little aliens because they no longer exist) – making bosses very happy. The Mail rants on about ET money being multi-million pound gravy trains, as opposed, presumably, to the banking industry.

Finally, the news that we all suspected – rats at No 10. Yesterday the twitterati gleefully grabbed onto this news and spread the word through the cybersphere. We wait for the eviction of said rats.

The papers - 26 January, 2011

Today’s papers are all about a tale of three men and a boy. King (Mervyn) makes it to most front pages with his warnings that families face the toughest times ahead since the 1920s. And that he had been right not to raise interest rates. The other King (Colin Firth) is pictured in stills from the film the King’s Speech – nominated for Oscars. Scotsman splashes with double dip recession fears, with City:am and FT dealing with interest rates and spending cuts.

Andy Gray, more used to the back pages (and probably page threes), makes it to the front pages either as a splash, or a dog-ear, with news of his exit from the world of Sky punditry for his nudge-nudge, wink-wink attitude towards women.
The Mirror’s Kevin Maguire though, thinks a yellow card and some formal re-education would have been more appropriate.

And now to the boy. Dear Gideon, what have you done to the economy? And, your meteorological skills are about on a par with your economic skills. Roundly derided for his: “it wasn’t my fault, it was the snow” whinge. And he has no plan B – which didn’t surprise most of us, because we didn’t believe he had a plan A. Loved the Mirror’s take with pix of Gideon under the headline Snow Idea, dressed as a weatherman parodying the Beeb’s hurricane denier Michael Fish:

“Earlier today a Mr Balls rang the BBC to say he had heard there was an economic hurricane on the way. Well if you are watching, don’t worry, there isn’t”.

But the Tory Lord Taylor did not manage to escape attention – and is now staring at a prison sentence after being convicted of fiddling his expenses.

The Mail ploughs its usual pensions furrow with news of a pensions tax bungle. The taxman has apparently lost GBP1.2bn – find that man!

News that the Government’s latest assessments of people on sickness benefit found “skivers” made its way to the Express front page – who claimed that 75% on the sick are skiving.

Surprisingly interesting piece on the economy, the Tories and their lack of understanding of working people’s lives, by Simon Heffer in the Telegraph http://bit.ly/hvwfQV

The Guardian continues its series on the Palestine Papers, but takes time out to tell us that 80% of councils remain “baffled” by the Big Society. Only 80%?

Johann Hari in the Independent (viewspaper) deserves credit for battling for a better deal in care homes for our elderly people http://ind.pn/hNthjn

The people’s champion, the Morning Star, splashes with its protest at a BBC tv and radio ban on mentioning the newspaper in any of its reviews http://bit.ly/hmBeJb

Finally, boffins have discovered that central heating, not food, makes you fat. They say that in our caveperson days, we burnt calories, not gas, electricity or oil, to keep warm. So, there you have it. And, as other boffins warn that global warming in this part of the world will result in colder temperatures, we will all become leaner.

ends

The papers - 25 January, 2011

Two sexist old geezers titter and nudge over shock, horror a person of the female gender involved in footie and it gets in the papers. Loved the Mirror splash – A Game of Two Halfwits – hear, hear. The Sun tried to have it both ways – splashing with a pix of the lineswoman with the immortal line (yawn) - Get ‘Em Off , swiftly followed by the cross-head “Sexist pundits axed from TV”, just in case you thought the Sun was sexist. Inside, to reinforce its credentials, the full gory story and a column from Sun columnist and ref Karren Brady. By the way, Quentin Letts – you poor thing.

Daily Star gave us the more serious stuff, splashing with – Alex & Andre Unite Against Jordan – people famous for being famous and their marital arrangements.

Battling for our attention the Indy (both versions), The Times, Telegraph, Guardian, and FT led, in the main, with the Moscow airport suicide bombing in which at least 35 people died. The Guardian continued with its excellent Palestine Papers revelations.

Jo Yeates is no longer front-page news, but reportage of the accused in court and an artist’s impression of Tabak and interpreter carried it forward.

Morning Star pictures a defiant picket protest of women demanding a public inquiry into police spying, in the sex for snouts scandal.

City:am and FT tell us that CBI chief Richard Lambert believes the Tory-led coalition is harming growth. This is not news to us, we have been saying this for a long time – welcome to the real world.

The Mail, apart from giving that poor thing Quentin Letts column space, warns us that families will only be allowed to have 80 bags of rubbish a year. It’s such a huge story it’s got 72-POINT 5 DECK HEADLINE and not much room for the text.

For the good news – thank you, for once, to the Daily Express for the “Cure for Most Cancers Soon” – the holy grail will be available in a few years says British boffins. And on Burns’ night, The Scotsman reports mortality rates for children continue to fall to a record low level.

ends

Favourite Burns poem

Here's to a Temperance Supper
With water in glasses tall
And tea and coffee to end with
And me not there at all.

The News? 24 January 2011

Mixed offerings today from the nationals. They all agree that the main stories are around the fall-out from Alan Johnson and Andy Coulson resignations; the arrest of a man on suspicion of murder of Jo Yeates; the bravery of Australian soldier awarded the VC for action in Afghanistan and the love lives of a senior Tory Lord and Liz Hurley.

Little agreement on the splash – only two the same today. The Mirror relates the sorrow of Jo Yeates’ parents facing the “worst day of their lives” while the Sun has girlfriend of murder suspect standing by her man. The Morning Star highlights the weekend CWU march through Postal Minister Ed Davey’s constituency to oppose the privatisation of the Royal Mail. The Daily Star, however, ran with the “exclusive” Kerry Katona denial that she was a marriage wrecker - she had not stolen a “mum-of-three’s Royal Marine hunk”.

The Mail splashed with a health scare story of do-it-yourself diagnosing and treatment and consulting your GP by e-mail, rather than face-to-face – and no, it wasn’t to do with reducing cross-infection but cutting down on appointments time. Probably because Government plans for the NHS will mean that GPs will be too busy doing the accounts to see patients. The Express warned us of driver fury at looming petrol rationing and predicted petrol would be GBP8 by the summer.

Independent continued the phone-hacking story and, inside, had a pix of Cameron and James Murdoch together looking, as the Americans would say, goofy. Guardian devoted several pages and the splash to their revelations about the Middle East, pointing to secret documents that showed how the peace was lost. Inside Jackie Ashley asks who runs Britain? The implication being Murdoch empire has too much power. The Times brings the good news that the Tories’ Big Society is in crisis and the Telegraph tells women that it is poor diet and life-style that gives us breast cancer. Interesting to note that the Guardian was virtually alone in reporting that the UK cancer rates had declined over the past 10 years.

FT concentrated on the fall-out from the Irish Coalition Government’s collapse and Barclays pay plans and the freebie City:am attempted to convince us that bankers were good for us citing the amount of tax Goldman’s had paid. Aah, but how much had they put in their pockets?

Much pontificating and jolly cartoons about Ed Balls’ as Ed Miliband’s attack dog. A bit of forest sell-off furore from the rich and famous and the Sun launches a campaign about traumatized squaddies, warning of a mental health ticking time-bomb.

We are told the bleeding obvious by Tory David Davis that “David Cameron and his inner circle are too rich to connect with ordinary voters” and would mourn the loss of Essex boy, Andy Coulson.

Only one comment from me about the Tory Lord and the single-mother – I cannot believe that pink trousers, beige jacket are de rigeur for a Tory Ball. Thanks to the Sun for showing us other uses for an L cup bra. (I am not going to tell you).

Heartbreaking news that ET probably doesn’t exist. They’ll soon be telling us Santa doesn’t exist.

Finally, to the two old farts Sky’s Andy Grey and Richard Keys, whose sexist jibs about the off-side rule were caught on microphone – ha, bloody, ha – grow up boys.

ends