Personal care budgets could further fragment the NHS

Colin Leys 19 April 2013

Aside from whether patients welcome the cash payments there are wider issues that need addressing, namely whether the scheme strips cash from the NHS and so weakens the service for others; will it be a subsidy for private care; and who steps in if the money is spent before the year is up?

The lost compassion of nursing? Making sense of the Francis report

Colin Leys 18 February 2013

The failures uncovered by the Francis report go far beyond the compassion of individual nurses and managers, they are a clear warning sign on the dangers of turning a public health service into a competitive market. The British public can see it, why can't the government?

The Dissolution of the Mandarins: the sell-off of the British state

Colin Leys 15 June 2012

For the UK's senior civil service, 'public interest' is increasingly defined in terms of the private sector's agenda. With high-profile figures moving to private directorship roles and policy making being tailored to corporate interest, the days of a bureaucratic public career are over. 

Commodification: the essence of our time

Colin Leys and Barbara Harriss-White 2 April 2012

Under advanced capitalism, commodification expands into all corners of social and political life, with devastating consequences. Finding a limit to this process is more urgent than ever.

Living on borrowed time? The changing frontiers of the NHS debate

Colin Leys 29 February 2012
The author of 'The Plot Against the NHS' discusses the political struggle over England's national health service and considers what those determined to save it can still do.

The NHS will be privatised - it doesn't matter what the British people want

Colin Leys 14 September 2011
The majority of British voters want to keep the NHS public. The Prime Minister was elected on the promise of no major health reform. So why is parliament backing the Health and Social Care Bill, against the known wishes of the electorate?

NHS: Cameron's rhetoric is wearing thin

Colin Leys 20 April 2011
The Prime Minister has claimed to be committed to what he called our 'precious' NHS, yet Lansley's bill would destroy Britain's national health service. The government's rhetoric is wearing thin, and we must ensure that the aim of the proposed reforms are kept clearly in view throughout the 'listening exercise' charade

The Plot Against the NHS

Colin Leys 8 April 2011
In this lecture, based on the book The Plot Against the NHS, co-author Colin Leys attempts to set the record straight on plans for a new healthcare market. He argues that the healthcare reforms proposed by the Coalition are not as radical as they seem, but are part of a plot to dismantle the NHS born under Blair.

This week's editor

Heather McRobie


Niki Seth-Smith is a freelance journalist and co-editor of OurKingdom.

Europe from the bottom up

European Union stars in Paris. Flickr/notarim. Some rights reserved.

A new Europe can only come from the bottom up
Etienne Balibar

A social Europe must be a political Europe
Bo Stråth

As Europe is provincialized: a reply to Etienne Balibar
Sandro Mezzadra

European debate

More

Democratic Wealth

More

Nuclear non-proliferation

More

oDRussia at journalismfestival .com

More

Mali - the plot thickens

More

Remote control war

More

The media in Europe

More

Syndicate content