The coalition’s decision to ‘pause’ its NHS reforms has left an open
goal for its opponents, and they’ve been busy tapping the ball into this empty net this morning. At its conference up in Liverpool, the Royal College of Nursing has, predictably but
embarrassingly, declared that it has no confidence in the health secretary.
Back in London, Ed Miliband has been making hay while the sun shines attacking both the bill and the pause. His refrain at his press conference this morning was ‘the answer to a bad bill is not to slow it down but to junk it.’
Miliband’s performance this morning was striking for him speaking at a level of policy detail that party leaders normally eschew. He was happy discussing the intricacies of specific clauses of the bill. At one point, he remarked that “for the nerds among us the really interesting thing is”, before going on to discuss a point about competition laws. It’ll be interesting to see how this approach plays with the public. It certainly contrasts with David Cameron’s chairman of the board persona.
Cameron now finds himself almost in a no-win situation on these NHS reforms. If he presses ahead, he’ll be accused of not listening. But if he offers significant changes to the bill, then there’ll be cries of u-turn.
One thing to keep an eye on is what happens when the bill reaches the House of Lords, where there’s no coalition majority. John Healey, Labour’s shadow health secretary, said that he had been organising weekly briefings on the bill for the past two months in the hope of mobilising peers against it. Add to this, Shirley William’s vocal opposition and we could see quite an interesting battle in the upper house if the coalition does press on with the fundamentals of these reforms.
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