The Thin End

Don't you love it when the media uses words such 'soars'! The best one is 'more than doubles'. It sets the heart beating faster. two multiplied by 2 is 4. Now depending on context four is not a big number and nor is five, but 'more than doubles' is 'massive'! And so we have the headline for the numbers of women over 50 having babies. It has 'soared' according to a headline in the Guardian - and they know what soaring is. It has indeed 'more than doubled' from 69 in 2008 to 159 in 2012. Then of course we get the speculation. It will continue to rise at the same rate. And then we get the doom and gloom. It will all be very bad and put pressure on scarce resources. Older women have more complications in child birth. Indeed they do - but not all older women. In truth there are more younger women having children than older women and some of them have complications too! It is all part of this scare tactic about pregnancy. We are led to ...

Remember how the NHS was supposed to be 'safe' in Cameron's hands. Remember how the NHS was supposed to be 'ring-fenced' from the effects of austerity? Yes we remember. But we see an NHS starved of funds. But do the politicians care sufficiently to act? The NHS Confederation’s survey of politicians has highlighted  that seven out of 10 MPs believe there is insufficient political will to meet the challenges facing the NHS. Responding to the report, Dr Ian Wilson, Chairman of the BMA’s Representative Body, has said: "The government must not risk the NHS' core value of being based on need, not ability to pay, purely because they are unwilling to take action and make the changes they admit are desperately needed. "It is unbelievable that while eight out of 10 politicians agree change is essential, almost seven out of 10 say there is insufficient political will to allow this to happen. "The reality is that the NHS is under intense pressure from a...

As the analysis of Osborne's budget unfolds there is concern that the changes to pension funds will leave pensioners vulnerable in relation to financial decisions. This has been dismissed by government spokepersons as being 'insulting' to the ability of pensioners to make decisions. This must be one of the most absurd statements of the week. I would not call it insulting. In the light of so much recent legal action on mis-selling of financial products and inappropriate marketing I would call it sensible concern. Unless the market is regulated and appropriate safeguards put in place the I think we will all be vulnerable. It is clear that this has not been thought through. There will be a host of new and difficult to understand financial products flooding the market. It will be a mess. Osborne has taken a bold decision but he appears to have taken it without proper regard for the consequences.

As with a lot of budgets from Osborne the day after the night before looks less good. The rabbit he pulled out of his hat on pension pots is beginning to look less like a good deal in the cold light of analysis. It is a good idea in principle to allow those retiring to invest or spend their pension savings how they wish. Certainly annuities are a bad deal with interest rates so low. Pensioners have suffered with their incomes falling.  It has a good ring about. It fits the 'being in control' on ones own finances. But how will these complex decisions be made and how do we avoid unscrupulous exploitation of pensioners? I can see headlines in 30 years time about mis-sold investment schemes. There will be a mad scramble of financial companies creating difficult to interpret 'products' with difficult to read small print. It will be a mess.

Calling today's budget presented by the Chancellor 'shameful' the BMA has condemned it for doing nothing to address the NHS funding shortfall.  Responding to the Budget today Dr Mark Porter, Chair of BMA Council says “Despite claiming the economy is on the up, today's budget does nothing to address the crippling funding shortfall in the NHS. "While the Government claims the NHS budget is protected, in reality it's suffered £20bn of cuts, billions of which have come from a sustained attack on staff pay. "If growth forecasts are rising it’s even more shameful that the Government won’t even agree to a 1 per cent uplift, as recommended by an independent pay review body, for all front-line NHS staff. "Doctors and other staff face increasingly challenging, high pressured and stressful work environments. Cuts to budgets and rising workloads are leading to a recruitment and retention crisis in many parts of the NHS, and we're already seeing the effect of...

Today is budget day - expect the unexpected! Much of what will be in the budget has already been trailed in the media, but there will most likely be a rabbit of some sort that the Chancellor of the Exchequer will pull out of the hat. There is an election next year - indeed there are elections this year too. There will be the waving of order papers and cheering from the coalition back benches. I will not and cannot speculate on what the rabbit will be. It will be some kind of give-away that will please the bulk of middle Britain and appease disgruntled Tory backbenchers. There will be lots of talking about how solid the recovery is and what kind of recovery. Unemployment is tumbling and growth is strong - and there are more clear skies. Spring is bursting out all over. People will begin to feel better, and the Scots are more likely than not to vote to stay as part of the United Kingdom. That will make people feel better - won't it? The coalition - or at least Cameron, Clegg an...

The resolve of the US and EU to ignore the wishes of the Crimean people is arrogant and inconsistent. I am no fan of Mr Putin or Mr Putin's Russia. Far from it. But my view of the Russian regime does not blind me to the clear expression of the overwhelmingly Russian-speaking people of Crimea to be part of Russia. To ignore that is to have a very one-sided view of what William Hague and others call 'legitimacy'. If it is legitimate for an uprising in Kiev to overthrow the regime in Ukraine then it must surely be so for the crowds of people who are now celebrating the outcome of their referendum in the Crimea.  President Obama says he wants a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis. But a diplomatic solution will have to take account of the genuine concerns of Russia about the instability on its doorstep where it has major strategic interests.  There is something unfortunately vague about the British foreign secretary's stance on the events in Crimea. He knows th...