The question I sought to answer was: how did the former Secretary of State for Health make the case – particularly the Conservative case – for public health intervention?
Basic services – the NHS, policing, schools, road maintenance, refuse collection, you name it – have gone to rack and ruin. Life expectancy has fallen sharply. We still have, to our shame, by far the worst drug death levels in Europe.
Immigration is an important short-term palliative, but cannot remain an excuse for British businesses not to invest or train up domestic workers.
A plurality of party members express support for a system under which employers and employees fund most healthcare, rather than having it provided by the state free at the point of use.
Two children watching the exchanges from the gallery did not get bored, so in that respect the pantomime had been a success.
From renationalisation of the energy and train companies to a bonfire of environmental and employment regulations, taking back control from Brussels has opened a new range of possibilities that were previously off the menu.
The PM demonstrated his capacity for counter-attack, and neither Starmer nor Flynn managed to disconcert him.
The Government urgently needs a growth package – to boost investment in energy, food, transport and other areas in which there are shortages.
We have been looking at how we can strengthen our laws to provide the police with the clarity they need to stop serious disruption and will come forward with those plans in the coming weeks.
The Shadow Health Secretary has been asked by Tominey to prove his party isn’t “a lot of soundbite and no substance”.
He tells Ridge that “we’ve got to acknowledge the NHS isn’t on its knees, it’s on its face.”
The Prime Minister suggests to Kuenssberg he is willing to talk about this year’s pay settlement.
The two systems are reinforcing a hospital merry-go-round. We must deal with system divergence; and deliver fairness and affordability via a co-payment regime to exempt the most impoverished.
His plan for 2024 is to say: “I may not be most exciting politician in the world. But I’m the more reliable of the two before you. What I promise I then deliver.” It’s unlikely to be enough on its own.
We are still trying to clear the backlog created by Covid-19; industrial action will mean more delays and more preventable suffering.