The Thin End

A new report published today by the right-wing think tank Centre for Policy Studies presents some interesting statistics on 'welfare dependency'. In a new  Economic Bulletin ,  Adam Memon, Head of Economic Research reveals that  51.5% of households still receive more from the state than they pay in tax .   The report also shows that:   Net dependency of the middle fifth of households has fallen by 27% since 2010/11.   The poorest are still suffering from high taxes.   Deeper welfare reform is needed to reduce dependency and raise incomes.   Inequality is now lower than at any time under New Labour. The report draws its statistics from the office for National Statistics.  You might think then that this is an 'objective' assessment.  But it requires a note of caution, not about the statistics themselves, but the assumptions.  Adam Memon, the report author says:   “Welfare dependency is an economical...

When my interest in politics blossomed in the 1960s it was driven by a gut instinct that there was something fundamentally wrong with a society predicated on  vast inequalities not just in the distribution of wealth but also of opportunities. The society in which I grew up was palpably unfair.  Much has changed since, but the vast inequalities of opportunity persist.  The Labour party must once again find a clear voice to address poverty and inequalities of opportunity. Social justice must once again form the core of what Labour is about Labour is nothing if it is not a crucial part of the movement that challenges that unfairness, or as Harold Wilson put it a 'crusade' against poverty.  But whilst the problems are old, old solutions will no longer work - not least because voters won't accept them. A simplistic message of tax and spend is not one voters will support.  This presents a dilemma for Labour, and whoever wins the leadership election will have to add...

Private practice directly affects the quality of care that NHS patients receive and doctors should not be allowed to work on both sides of the divide, writes a senior doctor in The BMJ this week. Recently I sat waiting for a urology test. The clinic was already running late.  When I arrived it was running 45 minutes late, but now the 'estimate' had been changed on the white board to 90 minutes.  I sat patiently waiting. It was not unusual. I had come prepared with a newspaper to read.  A woman opposite broke the 'silence'. "I went private last time!" she declared. Some of us looked up, wondering whether this was the solution to waiting. "It was the same doctor!" She declared, and we wondered how a busy consultant could work both for the NHS and have a private clinic.  To whom did he owe his loyalty? It has been an accepted part of the NHS since its foundation.  At the heart of the NHS has always been this conundrum. Does it matter? Is ther...

We know now that the NHS is stretched to breaking point.  The doctors and nurses tell us so.  This is not an organisational issue.  This is an issue of funding.  With increased demands, with flat-line funding year on year for the past five, and fewer nurses, the system is creaking.  This is the reality on the ground. In a pre-election report , the Royal College of Nursing  says that the he fragile frontline also highlights other areas which the next Government must address as a matter of urgency. The community nursing workforce has been cut by over 3,300, despite NHS plans to move care from hospitals to the community. And the recent increases to student nursing places are not enough to make up for previous cuts, increasing demands on an ageing workforce. The report also reveals that last year over 30,000 potential nursing students were turned away as over 50,000 people applied for just 21,205 places. Yet figures from UCAS show that there is no shortag...

The BMJ, the prestigious British Medical Journal, today calls on the next Health Secretary to “secure the NHS’s future”. England’s NHS is stretched close to breaking point, say the BMJ editors. The BMJ today calls on the next Secretary of State for Health to “secure the NHS’s future as the best and fairest health service in the world.” In an open letter, Editor in chief, Dr Fiona Godlee, and colleagues say England’s NHS is stretched close to breaking point - and they set down what they believe is needed to heal the NHS. They point to current problems, such as virtually flat-line funding in real terms since 2010, the growing demands of an aging population, and extreme cuts to social care, that have “exacerbated the pressures, causing knock-on effects across the service.” As a result, waiting times for treatment are the longest for many years, while staff morale in many parts of the service is at rock bottom because of real terms pay cuts and the relentless workload, they writ...

An indicator of the squeeze on hospitals is the increased number of Trusts in financial difficulty.   Five years ago it was just over 20%.  Now it is over 50%.  More than half the NHS Trusts are running a deficit.  It amounts to £800 million in total.  The origins of these deficits is not hard to find. Demand on the NHS has been growing yet funding has increased by just 0.9% per year.  With complex reorganisation, cuts in spending on social care of around 20%, the burden on the NHS has never been greater.  Little wonder then that there are stark warnings that the system is at breaking point.    The projected figures are stark.  It is estimated that there will be a funding gap of £30 billion for the NHS by 2020.  None of the political parties have really demonstrated how they would fill this gap. But the Conservatives pretend there is no problem that can;t be solved according to Mr Cameron 'by efficiency savings'.   ...

The majority of people on benefits in the UK are hard working and on low pay.  Many of them would be on the kind of zero hours contracts that the Prime Minister conceded, eventually,  in his interview with Jeremy Paxman that he would not like to be on.  He was also asked by Jeremy Paxman where the cuts would fall to deal with the deficit.  The answer of course is 'cutting benefits' and through further 'efficiency savings'.   It is all pie in the sky.  Either the Prime Minister has no idea how they would cut the deficit or the Tories have a hidden agenda.  Actually, it is not so hidden. They will cut 'welfare'.  That is what would happen - swingeing cuts in welfare. Swingeing cuts in welfare will hurt the hard working poor.  The poorest are already paying disproportionately more tax than the wealthiest.  They have already suffered through measures such as the 'bedroom tax' and other cuts in benefit. At the outset of the coalition five...