Published: May 30th 2011 - at 9:43 am

Any surprise Lord Warner is defending NHS privatisation?


by Guest    

contribution by Richard Blogger

Lord Norman Warner keeps turning up like a turd that will not flush away. He keeps being brought up by the media as a “previous Labour Minister” that “supports Lansley’s NHS policies”.

Why is it that he supports “the coalition’s plans to reform the NHS”? Why, on BBC Westminster Hour did he tell Carolyn Quinn that he is “critical of Labour’s opposition to proposals to increase competition within the NHS“?

Might it be because in 2008 he became:

nonexecutive chairman of a company – UK Health Gateway – which promises to “open the door” for overseas businesses selling to the National Health Service

In other words, he became part of a company that would benefit from competition in the NHS.

Might it also be because he also: “works as an adviser to Xansa, a technology firm, and Byotrol, an antimicrobial company, which both sell services or products to the NHS” and was “paid by DLA Piper, which advised ministers on the £12 billion IT project for the NHS” projects that he was responsible for when he was a government minister?

When Lord Warner supports a Tory Government about a policy to introduce more private sector involvement into the NHS, it is simply because I think Lord Warner has a vested interested in doing so.


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Reader comments


1. dan

Thanks for bringing this up – he sounded highly suspect on the programme. With someone like him on, being ‘labour’, the BBC fulfils its requirement to be ‘balanced’ while presenting a consensus.

This happens all the time, with no declaration of interest.

2. Tim Worstall

Skating very close to the libel laws there. Sunny, you might want to revise this.

a few more “in my opinion”s perhaps…..

3. Mike Killingworth

NHS privatisation is now a certainty. The physical facilities will be sold off in this Parliament, the insurance element in the next.

And you’re slipping, Worstall – the least we expect from you is an explanation of why a market-based healthcare sector must necessarily deliver a better service than a state-run oligopoly together with an assertion as a matter of fact that anyone who thinks otherwise is stupid, vicious or both. You know you can do it.

4. Steven

I don’t know how a government can sell off something that is ours and don’t have a mandate to do so. All of us since the NHS’s beginning have paid for it’s property and research. We all have a stake in it, so if it’s sold off what do we all get back? Maybe I’m naive but the NHS policy from the Tories or the establishment, seem completely wrong or immoral.

5. Tim Worstall

“I don’t know how a government can sell off something that is ours and don’t have a mandate to do so. All of us since the NHS’s beginning have paid for it’s property and research.”

Ooooh, I dunno, maybe the same way they stole the hospitals when the NHS was started? St Barts has been a charitable hospital since the 13th century…..didn’t stop the NHS “acquiring” it in 1948 though.

6. Steven

But wasn’t St Barts bought with public money? And hasn’t it been the case since the founding of the NHS that public money has gone into updating buildings, paying for equipment and the hospitals belonging to all of us no matter where about in the country one lives?

7. Tim Worstall

“But wasn’t St Barts bought with public money?”

No.

Further, it’s the government which owns the various hospitals. So, if they’re sold, it’s the government that will get the money. Leave aside that we’re talking about hospitals here: what is the problem you’ve got with this?

The government owns office buildings, built with and maintained by tax money. Sometimes they sell some of these buildings because they don’t need them any more. So, what’s wrong with this? The government gets the value of the building when it sells it.

8. Steven

But do the public get the benefit? They are our buildings and there is no mandate to sell them. If the public by voting decide to allow a government to do this then fair enough but at the moment they don’t. This is highly undemocratic by selling off what is ours. Let there be a referendum where this whole issue can be discussed.
If you go back to 1945 Labour promised to form the NHS and the people voted for it and this was one of the major issue at that time. Labour fulfilled that promise.

Also remember the idea for the NHS first came from a charity in South Wales you could say the NHS was an outcome from what was then the Big Society.

9. steveb

4
Yep, they can sell anything off, that’s how Thatcher ensured that the economy was awash with money,prvatization was enabled by the taxpayers of the 50s 60s and 70s.
Even the ‘Tell Sid’ adverts were paid for by the taxpayer, nothing like redistributing wealth.

10. Marienbad

4. (Steven): “I don’t know how a government can sell off something that is ours and don’t have a mandate to do so”

Well Labour sold off our tax offices to a company based in a tax haven, so now we lease them from Mapperley PLC. Nice one Labour. They also lied int he House about this. So Labour have form on this one.

11. rentergirl

Can we enforce disclosure of interest? Why is the rubbish these people who will dain the NHS being reported mostly unchallenged and without reference to their bias?


Reactions: Twitter, blogs
  1. Liberal Conspiracy

    Any surprise Lord Warner is defending NHS privatisation? http://bit.ly/lr5dzF

  2. Liberal Conspiracy

    Any surprise Lord Warner is defending NHS privatisation? http://bit.ly/lr5dzF

  3. MerseyMal

    Any surprise Lord Warner is defending NHS privatisation? http://bit.ly/lr5dzF

  4. daveno7

    Any surprise Lord Warner is defending NHS privatisation? http://bit.ly/lr5dzF

  5. malcolm

    Any surprise Lord Warner is defending NHS privatisation? http://bit.ly/lr5dzF

  6. Rory Hegarty

    Any surprise Lord Warner is defending NHS privatisation? http://bit.ly/lr5dzF

  7. Paul Hunter

    Any surprise Lord Warner is defending NHS privatisation? http://bit.ly/lr5dzF

  8. WMD-Gnome

    Any surprise Lord Warner is defending NHS privatisation?
    We realy need to sack these people

    http://bit.ly/keAfCY

  9. Watching You

    Any surprise Lord Warner is defending NHS privatisation? http://bit.ly/lr5dzF

  10. Gavin Duff

    “@libcon: Any surprise Lord Warner is defending NHS privatisation? http://t.co/v5h4yJR” // what a hateful money grabbing swine

  11. Mark Clapham

    RT @libcon: Any surprise Lord Warner is defending NHS privatisation? http://bit.ly/lr5dzF

  12. Kim Blake

    “@libcon: Any surprise Lord Warner is defending NHS privatisation? http://t.co/v5h4yJR” // what a hateful money grabbing swine

  13. suzy franklin

    Any surprise Lord Warner is defending NHS privatisation? http://bit.ly/lr5dzF

  14. Pucci Dellanno

    Any surprise Lord Warner is defending NHS privatisation? http://bit.ly/lr5dzF

  15. sunny hundal

    Is it any surprise Labour peer Lord Warner is defending NHS privatisation? asks @richardblogger – http://bit.ly/lr5dzF

  16. sunny hundal

    Is it any surprise Labour peer Lord Warner is defending NHS privatisation? asks @richardblogger – http://bit.ly/lr5dzF

  17. sheila mary roberts

    Is it any surprise Labour peer Lord Warner is defending NHS privatisation? asks @richardblogger – http://bit.ly/lr5dzF

  18. Prime Economics

    Is it any surprise Labour peer Lord Warner is defending NHS privatisation? asks @richardblogger – http://bit.ly/lr5dzF

  19. Ann Pettifor

    Is it any surprise Labour peer Lord Warner is defending NHS privatisation? asks @richardblogger – http://bit.ly/lr5dzF

  20. Barbara Crowther

    Is it any surprise Labour peer Lord Warner is defending NHS privatisation? asks @richardblogger – http://bit.ly/lr5dzF

  21. 36grundy

    RT @libcon: Any surprise Lord Warner is defending NHS privatisation? http://t.co/fezET28

  22. Daniel Pitt

    Any surprise Lord Warner is defending NHS privatisation? http://bit.ly/lr5dzF #ConDemNation

  23. Paul Manzotti

    @EvanHD Seems it's more like *companies*: http://bit.ly/kbQ0wY http://bit.ly/k2cKw1 http://bit.ly/jjKM7a Main 1 is UK Health Gateway. MTF

  24. Alison Charlton

    Lord Warner the only Labour peer to vote against the Rea amendment. This is why: http://t.co/pIThKK9T via @libcon

  25. Ferret Dave

    Lord Warner the only Labour peer to vote against the Rea amendment. This is why: http://t.co/pIThKK9T via @libcon

  26. Rooftop Jaxx

    Lord Warner the only Labour peer to vote against the Rea amendment. This is why: http://t.co/pIThKK9T via @libcon

  27. Mabel Horrocks

    Lord Warner the only Labour peer to vote against the Rea amendment. This is why: http://t.co/pIThKK9T via @libcon

  28. DarkestAngel

    Lord Warner the only Labour peer to vote against the Rea amendment. This is why: http://t.co/pIThKK9T via @libcon

  29. Jill Hayward

    Lord Warner the only Labour peer to vote against the Rea amendment. This is why: http://t.co/pIThKK9T via @libcon

  30. caroline holding

    Any surprise Lord Warner is defending NHS privatisation? http://t.co/hoSUbg65 #ripnhs #hmmm

  31. Angus Carruthers

    MT @labour52rose Any surprise Lord Warner is defending NHS privatisation? http://t.co/yv72SUqU via @RichardBlogger @libcon

  32. Jill Hayward

    .@ShippersUnbound Any surprise Lord Warner wants NHS bill? He's said it for ages & is non-exec at pvt health firm http://t.co/gZVeYvrI

  33. Izzy Green

    MT @labour52rose Any surprise Lord Warner is defending NHS privatisation? http://t.co/yv72SUqU via @RichardBlogger @libcon

  34. Phil Jones

    .@ShippersUnbound Any surprise Lord Warner wants NHS bill? He's said it for ages & is non-exec at pvt health firm http://t.co/gZVeYvrI

  35. steve

    .@ShippersUnbound Any surprise Lord Warner wants NHS bill? He's said it for ages & is non-exec at pvt health firm http://t.co/gZVeYvrI

  36. Matt Senior

    .@ShippersUnbound Any surprise Lord Warner wants NHS bill? He's said it for ages & is non-exec at pvt health firm http://t.co/gZVeYvrI

  37. keithyboy

    .@ShippersUnbound Any surprise Lord Warner wants NHS bill? He's said it for ages & is non-exec at pvt health firm http://t.co/gZVeYvrI

  38. Nick H.

    .@ShippersUnbound Any surprise Lord Warner wants NHS bill? He's said it for ages & is non-exec at pvt health firm http://t.co/gZVeYvrI

  39. Kevin Donovan

    .@ShippersUnbound Any surprise Lord Warner wants NHS bill? He's said it for ages & is non-exec at pvt health firm http://t.co/gZVeYvrI

  40. dianedalziel

    .@ShippersUnbound Any surprise Lord Warner wants NHS bill? He's said it for ages & is non-exec at pvt health firm http://t.co/gZVeYvrI





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