A Tory MP who was promoted in the recent reshuffle to a junior role in the Department for Health has made an extraordinarily frank admission on the government’s controversial changes to the NHS.
Speaking in a Q&A session on the reforms at a health conference, Anna Soubry admitted:
“We screwed up”
The mea culpa comes as something of a surprise, since Soubry was a staunch supporter of the bill during its passage. She even appeared on the BBC’s Daily Politics in February to defend it, countering the Royal College of GPs’ opposition with self-confessed “anecdotal evidence”
Perhaps her change of heart is a result of the declaration of an alliance of doctors intending to unseat coalition MPs supportive of the bill — and speculation that Soubry’s tiny majority of 389 makes her especially vulnerable.
Or maybe she just wanted Ed Balls to blow her more kisses across the House of Commons.
3 Comments
Meanwhile Mr Lamb is now in Health implementing the proposals he threatened to quit over… A funny old world.
Well, I wish she’d said as much in her reply to me when I wrote* to tell her as much, back in March. Four hours it took me to write my letter – and I get a five line reply.
* she’s my MP
Tamar, at least you got a reply as we all know Ms Soubry has a shambolic relationship with out local posties. I’m surprised it wasn’t ignored with the excuse of “lost in post & never recieved.”