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Mr Daniel Hannan MEP: True Tory perspective on NHS
It seems Mr Hannan has been using his trip to campaign against the NHS again which obviously has some topical interest today.
His last comments on getting rid of the NHS led to David Cameron giving him
a speaking slot at the Tory spring conference!
*This Washington Times editorial reports on what Hannan has been saying:*
Sometimes it takes an outsider's perspective to help you appreciate your own
blessings. So it was Tuesday evening when Daniel Hannan, a British,
37-year-old member of the European Parliament, spoke at the Army and Navy
Club in Washington. Mr. Hannan made a convincing case that the American
health care system is far superior to the British one, and thus should not
move down Britain's path toward government control.
"Ponder our example, and tremble," Mr. Hannan warned. "You see a grizzly
picture of your own country's possible future. . .. Do not make the same
mistakes we have."* *He continued: "I see this massive encroachment of the
state... this huge power grab by the state machine... squeezing the private
sector, to engorge the state." In Great Britain, he explained, "It is not
uncommon to wait six, 10, even 12 months for a knee operation." He said, *"It
is exactly a Marxist system.* You are treated as a supplicant and expected
to be grateful for what you get. But our survival rates [in the United
Kingdom] are demonstrably worse."
It's his advice that we should not buy into the notion of establishing a
state-run system as just one option competing for business. "It expands and
expands until it squeezes out every other system," he said. "Don't imagine
that this is an experiment that can be reversed if it doesn't work out." The
system becomes too big to kill, even though it works terribly. The 1.4
million employees of the British National Health Service make the NHS the
world's third-largest single employer, behind only the Chinese army and the
Indian Railways. Yet the majority of those 1.4 million, Mr. Hannan said, are
"managers," not medical personnel.
The Washington Times, 7 August 2009
On Fox news he also said:
*
"I find it incredible that a free people living in a country dedicated and
founded in the cause of freedom and independence could seriously be thinking
of adopting such a system in peace-time*
Daniel Hannan, Fox News, 7 August 2009
He says of the number of people working for the NHS:
*
"That is the electoral block that makes it impossible to get rid of."*
4 comments:
Even in the Labour Party there are prominent elected members who disagree with something that the Party has settled on as policy ... even things held particularly dear to the heart by others in the same party.
Hannan's now rather well-known views of the NHS - and with which I disagree with and which do not form part of the party's policy (and he accepts that too, from what he has said) - cannot be elevated to the 'True Tory perspective on NHS' and to say otherwise is disingenuous nonsense - and you now it.
The only 'true' perspective is that set out in party documents and policies - which fully support the essence of the NHS and in particular, treatment regardless of means, for free.
Oops .. the verb in the last phrase of the second paragrah should read, 'know'!
a politician holds a view on an issue that is different to the partys published plans.
a bit more of this from all parties would be appreciated
When I watched Mr Hannan on 'Question Time' just before the European elections, he sure scared the hell out of me and I hold a traditional conservative views. I thought I'm a million miles away from this guy's views and not to mention his very off-putting personality and style. He is definitely different to put it mildly and it now seems a liability to Conservative party ambitions; yet another loose cannon for David Cameron to deal with. The sad thing is, he has also undermined the great work President Barack Obama is trying to do; to give some basic medical care to more than 40 million American people who cannot afford medical insurance.
What Mr Hannan said was music to the Republicans' ears. The trouble is they will believe Mr Hannan is representative of the British people, which he certainly is not. He represents no one but himself on this one. British MEPs should keep their noses out of US domestic politics and get on with representing the UK in Europe, for which they are paid very well.
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