Reform Media Summary

8 May 2008

Health

Further coverage of Reform’s report Demand for a new era: the future of health. In the magazine GP reports on the issue of demand and how the NHS will not be able to cope unless it focuses on value for money. The report can be found at www.reform.co.uk (GP, p.11).

Health Select Committee report: Government handling of the training of junior doctors has been inept (Times, p.15; Guardian, p.7; Telegraph, p.2).

Women are likely to be offered easier access to early abortions at GP surgeries, family planning centers and cottage hospitals after a pilot scheme found medical abortions outside “traditional” hospital clinics were safe and effective (Mail, p.8, p.14 [leader]; Times, p.15).

In an interview with the Health Service Journal Channing Wheeler, Commercial Director General at the Department of Health, discusses the role of the State in the provision of healthcare. He says: “It became very evident to me that the NHS didn’t need the centre to do things for it, but for it to enable, facilitate, educate and to develop tools to implement world class commissioning and a rules-based system to help transform the NHS into a market” (HSJ, p.12).

Economy

Business Minister Baroness Vadera’s assertion that concerns of employers regarding the way the UK implements Brussels red tape were a “mythology” has provoked an angry response. Employers were also disappointed by the refusal of Baroness Vadera to promise to relax restrictions on migrants from Romania and Bulgaria (FT, p.2).

Further coverage of the housing market. According to Savills, the property agent, economic uncertainty and job losses in the City took their toll on the value of up market housing in London as the price of homes costing more than £1 million fell by 1.5 per cent in the first quarter of this year (FT, p.3; Mail, p.19; Guardian, p.24).

An attempt to stall legislation giving new rights to agency and temporary workers failed yesterday after ministers abstained from a crucial vote. The Bill was criticised by the Confederation for British Industry as “bad legislation that would be damaging for business and [would] not benefit vulnerable workers” (FT, p.4).

Writing in the FT Sir Andrew Large, former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, calls for the Bank to be empowered to “obtain information and intelligence about the liquidity of individual banks and financial institutions” suggesting that current Government proposals regarding reforms to the Bank’s powers do not go far enough (FT, p.13).

Education

Chris Perry, Chief Executive of the Independent Schools Council, has described the standard of education in state schools as “offensive” and has criticised the “Cold War” mentality which prevented the independent and maintained sectors working together (Telegraph, p.10; Mail, p.9;Guardian, p.2; Independent, p.19).

A report released by the Department for Children, Schools and Families has suggested that schoolchildren should be able to question teachers applying for jobs. Chris Keates, General Secretary of the teachers’ union NASUWT described the proposal as “completely unacceptable” (Telegraph, p.2).

Ed Balls, Schools Secretary, yesterday recommended that schools should post children’s progress reports online in an attempt to overcome the decline in popularity of the traditional parent’s evening (Telegraph, p.10; Guardian, p.11).

Figures released by Education Data Surveys show that only 2,000 new maths teachers were trained this year, as fears rise over a shortage of specialist teachers (Telegraph, p.15).

Home Affairs

The Home Secretary will announce today that thousands of repeat offenders will be visited daily and filmed as part of efforts to reduce anti-social behaviour (Times, p.4; Telegraph, p.8; Mail, p.8; Guardian, p.1).

Further coverage of the decision to upgrade cannabis to a class B substance. Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, said of the decision: “Where there is a clear and serious risk to mental health, I err on the side of caution. I make no apology for that” (Telegraph, p.8, p.22 [leader]; Mail, p.10, p.14 [leader]; Times, p.9;Guardian, p.6; Mirror, p.6; Express, p.2).

Parents with unruly teenagers will be given advice on how to deal with them by text message as part of a £44 million Government project (Telegraph, p.10; Mail, p.34).

Politics

Peter Riddell reports on a new Populus poll: “The only way to `share the proceeds of growth` is by squeezing and ultimately cutting back budgets” (Times, p.30).

Anatole Kaletsky: Gordon Brown and Hillary Clinton are suffering from the same mistakes, notably a failure to repudiate the war in Iraq (Times, p.21).

The Labour Party is in emergency talks to renegotiate more than £10 million in loans from wealthy businessmen in order to ease an internal liquidity crisis (FT, p.1).

Further coverage of the call by Wendy Alexander, Leader of the Scottish Labour Party, for an early referendum on Scottish independence. The FT leader argues the move “has damaged Labour in London, compounding last week’s local election mauling” (FT, p.2, p.12; Telegraph, p.1, p.4 [Andrew Gimson]; Mail, p.2, p.20 [Quentin Letts]; Guardian, p.12; p.12 [Simon Hoggart], p.29 [Seumas Milne], p.30 [Leader]; Independent, p.20, p.20 [Simon Carr], p.33 [Steve Richards]; Sun, p.2; Express, p.10; Spectator, p.5).

Writing in the Telegraph Mary Riddell argues that Labour’s best chance of recovery lies in focusing on its traditional goal of social justice (Telegraph, p.22).

Writing in the New Statesman James Purnell, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, comments on the role of Government in the current age of “global insecurity”. He argues that people “want a government that does everything it can to lift the barriers in their way, not a government that just gets out of the way” (New Statesman, p.10).

The new Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has called for a ban on alcohol on public transport as of June 1st 2008 (Independent, p.11; Sun, p.2).

Frank Field: Abolishing the 10p tax rate shattered the contract on which New Labour was based (Spectator, p.10).