The rumblings of discontent over NHS reforms continues, as the Tory chair of the health select committee attacked the plans, saying they “sound like sofa government”. Stephen Dorrell, himself a former health secretary, told the FT, “Would we contemplate district councils meeting in private without public access to papers and proper minutes and declarations of interest? Of course not. It is self-evident that there has to be proper governance.”
In a desperate attempt to “streamline” (or was that eliminate) government, the coalition are ignoring expert advice and abolishing the Serious Fraud Office, reports the Times (£). And all of this at a time when stopping fraud is more crucial than ever. It would be funny if it wasn’t so terribly sad.
And if Nick Clegg thought yesterday’s heart-rending (stomach-churning) interview with socialite Jemima Khan in the New Statesman would bring his media beating to an end, he was very, very wrong. Simon Jenkins mocks Clegg (and tears him limb from limb) today in the Guardian.
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