Morning Report – June 1st

It may be recess, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have some very uncomfortable cabinet ministers this morning. Chris Huhne’s career has been under threat for what seems like an eternity now, so the last thing he needs is for his election expenses to come under the microscope. The worst that could happen is he’ll get a slap on the wrist, but it’s still not the kind of headlines he’ll want.

Equally under pressure Andrew Lansley will have found little to comfort him in the papers this morning either, with his NHS plans unlikely to become law until 2012 at the earliest, and the King’s Fund calling governance structures for GP consortia “weak”. There’s also an emerging crisis in Britain’s care services that he’ll need to tackle, after abuse was uncovered in one residential hospital by Panorama, and the FT described the state of Britain’s care homes as “shameful“. Oh – and the largest care home provider in the country is trying to stave off mass closures due to their mounting debts. And yet Andrew Lansley thought it was the NHS, rather than a national care service, that was the most important issue….

How about the economy? Perhaps there’s some good news there? No such luck George, as the FT reports that UK consumer recovery is set to be the slowest for 180 years. That’s so far back it’s before Queen Victoria assumed the throne.

And last – but very much not least – in a ComRes poll published in the Independent this morning, Labour has lost its lead, and is tied with the Tories on 37%. We’re still much stronger than we were a year ago, and this is only one poll, but the trend does seem to have been downwards in recent weeks, from the lofty ten point margins enjoyed a few months ago. Keep an eye on those polls, even though he’s on his honeymoon, we’re sure Ed Miliband will be…