As the NHS turned 70 this week, Sal Brinton looked back at the development of social care policy and outlined the Government’s failings: … since 2015, the new Conservative Government has dithered and delayed, repeatedly promising that they would sort out the social care funding problem. We still await the Green Paper promised in the […]
Help our MPs choose their Commons debate – last chance to have your say
Lib Dem MPs have a relatively rare opposition day debate this week. They are approaching it a bit differently by giving you a chance to decide the subject. What’s particularly brilliant is that you get to vote preferentially too. That’ll be useful for next year’s Ashdown Prize organisers to note. An email from Alistair Carmichael […]
Happy Anniversary!
Embed from Getty Images It’s hot, and our regular supply of posts from you, dear readers, seems to have melted away. But we can’t let today go by without acknowledging the 70th Anniversary of the NHS. Of course, we can’t do it justice in a short piece, but we can be proud that, for all […]
With more money coming to the NHS do we need to rethink how it’s spent?
While some of the major health think tanks such as The King’s Fund say the announced 3.4% increase in annual NHS spending is not enough – and I would agree with that – can we at least use the additional NHS funding more efficiently? I would say it might be worth looking at changing some […]
Gosport findings ‘shocking and devastating’
We have all be shocked by the revelations about the inappropriate treatment of elderly patients at Gosport War Memorial Hospital. Here is Norman Lamb talking about the way the NHS closed ranks when he was Health Minister, and how he called for the enquiry that has just been completed. We also have some quotes […]
Theresa May shamelessly takes up discredited Leave campaign slogan
Most of my memories of the Leave campaign involve the blatant lies it told. 77 million Turks, we were told, would pretty much be here the day after we voted Remain, according to their literature. And the biggest lie of all was emblazoned on the side of a bus. £350 million a week for the […]
Scottish Liberal Democrats highlight perinatal mental health
As Mental Health Awareness Week draws to a close, Willie Rennie again used his questions to the First Minister to highlight the crisis in Scotland’s mental health provision: Post-natal depression and depression during pregnancy affect up to one in five women. Half the women who experience it will go undetected and untreated. During an FMQs […]
We’re turning away skilled workers
6,000 skilled people were denied entry to the UK last year due to visa caps. The Campaign for Science and Engineering reported on a Freedom of Information request to the Home Office which showed that thousands of workers had been denied entry between December 2017 and March 2018. The Government have refused over 6,000 applications for […]
Mental Health Awareness Week 2018
This week is Mental Health Awareness Week. The theme is this year is stress. Stress can pervade our lives, but one aspect is stress at work. Keeping a mentally-healthy workforce is best for everyone: the employees, the business and the customers. Being self-employed as a musician, workplace stress has a slightly different connotation. I’m preparing […]
Vince Cable talks about his mother’s mental illness, his father’s racism and overcoming prejudice in a moving and candid interview
You probably don’t know that Vince Cable was on Radio 5 Live as the birthday guest on Sunday night because it’s not really been reported anywhere. It’s worth catching up on it though because it’s one of the most open, personal and moving interviews I’ve heard him give. He’s mentioned the racism he and his […]