Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Lords Put Commons to Shame in Economic Debate
Iain Dale 9:57 AM
The participants read like a list of Who Was Who in British Politics, but that is no bad thing. We heard from Lords/Ladies Lawson, Haskel, Howe, Shephard, Powell, Lamont, Forsyth, Taverne, Peston, MacGregor, Skidelsky, Burns, Barnett, Higgins, Ryder and Tugendhat among many others. Think how many years at the Treasury many of them have served together and you will see why this is a debate well worth reading.
What a shame it is that the House of Commons could barely compete with that line-up. Perhaps that's why it has shied away from an economic debate.Joining the Euro - Why Never Is Right
Iain Dale 9:17 AM
Never is word which politicians use very rarely. Most delight in equivocating and keeping their options open. But in my view, if you give up control of your currency, you give up your ability to govern. In the end you give up your ability to tax and spend because those decisions are heavily infleunced by a central bank, far remote from your own economy. And isn't taxing and spending what government is all about? If you give up your ability to tax and spend you give up your right to govern. It doesn't happen overnight, but sure as night follows day, it happens in the end. Ireland is a country which is about to realise that.
The current economic crisis adds further weight to the argument that Britain should not even consider joining the euro. Whatever one thinks of what Gordon Brown has done, there is little doubt that his hands would have been tied to a considerable extent had Britain been in the euro.
So I stick to what I said when I was asked this question as a candidate. I would never, ever, vote for Britain to join the euro.It's Life Which Matters, Not a Socialist Utopia
Iain Dale 8:02 AM
At the moment, if a particular cancer drug can save your life but your local healhcare trust won't pay for it, you're stuffed. You can of course pay for it yourself but then the Trust can withdraw all other NHS treatment. What a byzantine system.
I have a problem with my right shoulder. I am paying for physiotherapy. That doesn't affect my rights to further NHS treatment. Why should it when drugs are involved?
We already have a so-called two tier health service. All today's announcement does is recognise that and allow people, if they have to, to spend their own money to prolong a life. How on earth can that be wrong?
Those arguing that it is wrong need to examine their own motivations very carefully. For they are rarely motivated by clinical excellence. More often it is pure class envy and a hankering for a socialist utopia that never was.
Tuesday, 4 November 2008
It is astonishing that until yesterday Parliament had had no debate on the current economic crisis. The House of Commons has failed in its duty to be the country's debating chamber. Instead, yesterday, it fell to the House of Lords to take up the cudgels. Their Lordships had a six hour debate and I highly recommend it to you to read - HERE.
According to a ConservativeHome survey, 65% of Conservative activists would NEVER vote for Britain to join the euro. I suppose the question that begs is who the 35% are who think that at some point in the future it is a possibility.
The news that co-payments may now be allowed in the NHS should be welcomed by all those for whom medical care is the only priority. The move will, of course, be panned by those for whom the class war is important and adopt the attitude of, well if I can't have it no one can.
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