It seems that the NHS bill, which was due for its final Commons reading today, has been kicked into the long grass. The bill is to go back to committee, effectively delaying the legislation until after the party conference season of 2012. I say 'seems' as it is tricky to see through the fog of political intrigue around the Health and Social Care Bill (to give its full name) that has been massing since its introduction in January. While this morning Nick Clegg reeled off a list of fundamental changes planned for the delayed bill, it remains uncertain as to whether the Prime Minister has given his approval. 

So the game continues - more pre-occupied, it seems, with the health of the Coalition and the profit margins of private healthcare providers than with the future wellbeing of the British public. The cartoon below- a collaboration between Tim Holmes and Silvie Winn of 'You Took That Well' - says it with style: Don't play games with our health.

This cartoon was originally published on You Took That Well.