I don't think being a car lover is incompatible with wanting to regulate car use. As we've seen recently in the financial sector, a lack of regulation spoils the party for everyone. I think we use cars too much, but my preferred holiday is a driving holiday. Mind you, the last time our car needed diesel was the first weekend in September and it still has a quarter tank left. Other than holidays our usage is, by choice, low.
As for the spin doctor issue, what's the alternative? The other lot have made a spin doctor their leader.
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you are watching the dying days of this government
as lord mandy gets first class NHS treatment while the rest of us get sub 3rd world
where the troops in action get rubbish kit while the ministers responsible are still in nice public sector jobs
and where lies are the order of the day
dont believe him
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as lord mandy gets first class NHS treatment while the rest of us get sub 3rd world
Can't help wondering if you have ever passed through any of the third world retgwte. That of course includes the United States for those without money, in this context and one or two others.
This miserablist line on the NHS is unpleasant and destructive. It may not be perfect in every way - what is after all? - but it's a lot better than nothing. It's all right to complain when you have a valid complaint, but bad-mouthing this important social service in general terms isn't really cool.
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Probably we'll soon be driving round in Snatch Land Rovers then.
Travelling in them, PU, but not driving. We'll be in the back on our way to Her Majesty's high-security accommodation centre because some database has screwed up its records of our insurance or our ID cards or whatever the latest wheeze is to criminalise us. :(
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Oh No NW - I'm going to hit the Leffe Brun.
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yep ive lived in the 3rd world, and the USA, and been to hospital with poor folk in both and seen what happens
you been around the NHS recently? you seen how staggeringly bad it is?
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retgwte,
Staggeringly good IME.
Recent encounter when my son developed appendicitis on a Sunday afernoon in July - four days before we were due to go on holiday to France.
Down to the out of hours Doctor @ 13:30. Thorough and professional examination in a clean modern consulting room. Phone call, letter and 10 mins later we're directed to the District General Hospital where a bed is ready. Painkillers, drip etc sorted in the hour and by mid evening he's in theatre. Home by Tuesday and with a clean and healing wound we were in Calais the following Sunday.
Equally good with the M out Law's Ears, throat, feet and dentistry.
Mental Health is still the cinderella service though. And London may be different as well - mainly a problem with old buildings and inabilty to recruit and retain support staff.
Edited by Bromptonaut on 11/10/2008 at 21:47
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"you been around the NHS recently? you seen how staggeringly bad it is?"
Yes, I have. I suffered a nasty burn on my R hand exactly seven days ago. A&E at Oxford treated me fast, appt at 0800 following am at Stoke Mandeville, seen on time by registrar and SHO, who were expecting me, had my notes etc, treated me for 50 mins with no rush, offered tea/coffee etc., appt for Thursday last week, at St M again, same level of timekeeping/care/advice etc.
Can't fault them, and neither could the other patients I met. St M is being re-built right now, to a high standard.
Can't wait to get in the polling booth, mind you, but my experience of the NHS has been superb.
Only complaint is (driving connection coming...) car parking charges, but when you've badly burned two fingers on your dominant hand, paying £2.00 to park is not your biggest worry.
Edited by oldnotbold on 11/10/2008 at 21:46
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yep there are pockets of ok service in the nhs
there are also large areas of the country where service is routinely terrible
ive been in the nhs a lot recently with or visiting relatives, i tell u for free they would be better off as poor folk in the states
the dirt
the waits
the bad attitude from the staff
the wait to see a nurse to get on a list to see a surgeon who tells you to go back to GP to go on another wait to see another nurse to see the same surgeon
the beds 2 foot either side from folk dying and screaming in agony
the sheer lack of treatment, folk dying of prostate cancer diagnosed in 2000 having never had an op or radiotherapy, only thing from the nhs being morphine, this is not medicine this is butchery
etc
the nhs is a national disgrace
no chance of this govt getting elected again
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Meanwhile back to topicland.
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The NHS has saved my life twice, will it be staggeringly bad for you if it saves yours?
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Well, can't argue without going into inordinate detail. Let's not. Of course shortfall in services or money is often accompanied by personal human devotion and heroism.
All I can say is that when I have needed urgent medical attention from the NHS it has been efficiently provided. On both of these occasions over the last 20 years, skills and equipment have been quickly mobilised that wouldn't have been available without emergency evacuation to a (probably private) establishment in the capital over most of the third world, except in countries where it would have meant leaving altogether to go somewhere where they would be available.
I wouldn't deny that political interference and general human idiocy render the NHS less efficient and more wasteful than it needs to be. But the same could be said about every institution in the country.
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I could tell you a true story about life in A&E in a C London hospital many years ago during a long period of Tory govt., when an unqualified TA soldier on attachment had to lead seven stomach washouts one July night, with two student nurses to assist him, because of staff shortages.
If that happened today and got into a tabloid it'd be headline news.
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I think this government has reached the stage where anything it says will be viewed with suspicion and disbelief. It's hammered motorists with tax hikes for the last 11 years, made us the scapegoat for global issues, pandered to anti-motorist think tanks and "charities", and generally made car ownership a more expensive and unpleasant prospect than it was before they came to power.
If they hired Jeremy Clarkson as transport minister I'd be wondering what their real agenda was.
As for the NHS, yes it's a victim of bloated and clueless management, and has massive financial inefficiencies, but we don't know how lucky we are to be able to see a doctor or go to hospital without worrying if we can afford it. I have to say the way they are looking after my 3yr old daughter currently who has throat and adenoid problems just can't be faulted. Whether this is because of the government or despite them is a different question of course.
Cheers
DP
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>>you been around the NHS recently? you seen how staggeringly bad it is?>>
During the past 15 years my other half has been in and out of various hospitals, including a number in Scotland and Liverpool - the treatment has always been excellent and, on a number of occasions, brilliant.
As for Hoon being a "car fan", that's unlikely to count for much as the basic philosophy has already been laid down for some time and will not be deviated from whilst New Labour, or even the Tories, are in power.
I've watched said gentleman in current affairs programmes and on rolling news programmes over the years - as skilful a wordsmith as you will ever find as you attempt to nail down as to his real view on any matter arising.
I suggest he would probably have preferred to have gone into Europe.....
Edited by Stuartli on 11/10/2008 at 22:31
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>We'll be in the back on our way to Her Majesty's high-security accommodation centre
Not necessarily a bad thing.
You get TV, playstations, tailored menus and as much hallucinogenic assistance as you need. Days out to go shopping and you can still claim benefits.
It makes me wonder why I'm paying HMG for the privilege of spending 2hrs behind the wheel every day and then doing something called "work" for another 8hrs.
And back to topic:
As far as Hoon's words go, they're just that - words.
Kevin...
Edited by Kevin on 11/10/2008 at 22:08
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Agree with last post- until Hoon in his latest job does something positive for the motorist(scrap the road tax increases-unlikely as this cash is now needed to rescue the banks from their incompetence) then his words are cheap.
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so what about Theresa Villiers, what's her record?
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so what about Theresa Villiers what's her record?
Her record is that she has only ever been in opposition, so has had no chance to break her promises.
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>>scrap the road tax increases>>
This has already been strongly mooted from within the Government and, I suspect, will still go ahead.
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Scrapping the road tax increases seems unlikely; the govt is so short of cash that like Stuartli, I suspect it will still go ahead.
But I have a hunch that there's a higher chance of it being restructured, perhaps by scaling back the increase on existing cars, but going for a much steeply ramped taxation system on new cars. Something, perhaps like the new Irish structure which clobbers cars over 225g/km with a 2000 euro VED.
That would chime more with the current public mood of resentment at paying out to bail out the banks; let the wealthy bankers pay the big whack of tax, that sort of thing, and leave the person-with-five-year-old Mondeo alone. It would still mean less revenue than planned, but not as much as a complete u-turn. Govt could then say it has listened, and can present the adjustment as both better for the environment and fairer on the less well-off. (Whether anyone would want to believe them is another days' work)
I have no evidence at all for this; it's just a hunch, based onlooking on at their options.
Edited by NowWheels on 12/10/2008 at 01:29
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>>the govt is so short of cash that, like Stuartli, I suspect it will still go ahead.>>
You've misread the comment - I suspect that the proposed road tax increases on certain earlier vehicle models WILL be scrapped, as even most politicians have grasped the complete injustice of such a scheme.
Edited by Stuartli on 12/10/2008 at 01:31
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Sorry I misread your comment. But my assessment of the likely outcome remains as above. The govt is too desperately short of funds to discard even part of the VED increases on older models without making up for at least some of that revenue from elsewhere, and in the current climate it would be popular to be seen to penalising those who can be labelled as "fat cats".
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