Andrew Lansley Receives Vote of No Confidence from Royal College of Nursing
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Nurses have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a motion saying they have "no confidence" in the Health Secretary's management of NHS reforms.


Delegates at the Royal College of Nursing conference in Liverpool voted 99 per cent in favour of the motion, to 1 per cent against.

Never before has the RCN voted on a motion of no confidence in a Health Secretary. Nurse Geoff Earl told delegates it was a "very, very serious issue".

"Mr Lansley says he wants to hear from us - well go out on to the wards, go out into the community and listen to what our colleagues are saying.

"This is being driven by ideological dogma, not what is best for our patients."

Angry delegates said Andrew Lansley's plans would ruin the NHS and lead to worse patient care.

Bethann Siviter, from Birmingham, said she did not have confidence in GP commissioning - one of the central planks of the reforms.

"They mismanaged the flu jabs - how are they going to manage the NHS?" She added that if the reforms went ahead "the NHS is dying". » | Wednesday, April 13, 2011

John Maynard Keynes: Horror at Government's Economic Illiteracy
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Bounty Hunters to Cut Benefit Fraud by £1bn
THE TELEGRAPH: Private agencies are to be paid by the Government to reduce benefit fraud by £1billion, David Cameron is to announce.



Finance experts will identify welfare cheats by trawling through their records, household bills and credit card applications.

The agencies will get a “bounty” payment for each fraudster they identify under government plans to cut the £5.2billion annual fraud bill.

By having access to the Government’s database of incapacity and housing benefit claimants, the companies believe they can shave at least £1billion from the welfare bill, earning as much as £50million.

The Prime Minister will say today that the level of fraud is “absolutely outrageous” and an “uncompromising” strategy is needed.

Mr Cameron will also call on members of the public to report suspected cheats and promise tougher punishments for offenders. >>> Holly Watt, Rosa Prince and Robert Winnett | Tuesday, August 10, 2010

This is so 'old Tory'. Whilst I am not in favour of people cheating the system for benefits, I feel that Cameron should have the balls to target the fat cat bankers who are stealing far more from the system with their multi-million pound bonuses than the paltry sums of money that Jo Average is getting in the form of welfare. Why doesn't Cameron come up with something new and original like jailing bankers who milk the system, and thereby endanger capitalism's very existence? – © Mark | Comment also posted here

'Radical' Shake-Up The Welfare System
SKY NEWS: Iain Duncan Smith is to unveil his plans to encourage the unemployed to find work in a "radical" shake-up to the welfare system. The Work and Pensions Secretary talks to Sky's Mark Longhurst.