They Blog For You

                    This week-end has seen numerous briefings against the Health Secretary. I have found him to be one of  the best informed, and  most accessible of Cabinet Ministers. He knows his brief well, is aware of the problems of piloting through change to the NHS, and has already secured the [...]

From today – 1 April – the NHS in Norfolk will enjoy an extra £54 million, to support key Government priorities such as the Cancer Drugs Fund, investment in talking therapies for those with mental health conditions, 4,200 extra health visitors, and support for carers' breaks. Spending on healthcare in our [...]

  One day in parliament Paul Flynn (Newport West) (Lab): To underline his claim that prisons are well run, will the right hon. and learned Gentleman remind the House of the precise number of prisons that are free of the use of illegal drugs? Mr Clarke: I would not like to guarantee that [...]

David Hanson MP joins North Wales police on Saturday to back ivory surrender and protect...

David Hanson MP joins North Wales police on Saturday to back ivory surrender and protect elephants   (London, 24th March 2011) David Hanson, MP for Delyn, and Sgt Rob Taylor, Wildlife Officer of North Wales police force are to show their support for elephants by backing the International Fund for Animal Welfare [...]

CARDIFF West MP, Kevin Brennan, has welcomed a major bank's decision to give grants to four local third sector organisations in the constituency.Pedal Power, Pen yr Enfys, Re-Create and the Cardiff and Vale Parents Federation will all receive grants of over £10,000 to help with their community work.The money will [...]

Chloe Smith, Member of Parliament for Norwich North, will tomorrow help launch the new 'Bridge' service at The Matthew Project in Pottergate. The Bridge is a service run by the Matthew Project with new initiatives including working in partnership between the project and the NHS Trust Alcohol and Drugs Service, as [...]

Total of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan = 354   Sometimes it is possible to be too cautious. When throwing away £1.2 billion of swine flu vaccine is an example.. A hearing organised by the EPP group was held in the European Parliament today.  All points of view were represented from the splendid [...]

There is poison conflation of arguments that has created folly. On Thursday parliament will vote against votes for prisoners. It’s at best pointless and at worst damaging to persecuted people across Europe. There was a meeting  in the Commons to discuss the issue tonight. It was not a public meeting so [...]

Chloe Smith, MP for Norwich North, is calling for coordinated action to improve post-event care for people who have heart attacks. Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the UK's biggest killer - around one in five men and one in seven women die from the disease. CHD causes around 94,000 deaths in [...]

You have got to give in the Tories. They have solved the tricky problem of NHS waiting lists that have long been a headache to Governments. Waiting lists are not an efficient way to measure the quality of the service, but they have great effect on public perception. Many patients have been [...]

  They have not thought it through. Right-wing Tories, left-wing Tories, mad Tories, sensible Tories are all throbbing with anger. They are wrong. This week in Strasbourg the new Tory delegates queued up to harangue the Council of Europe on a deadly insult to 'UK's national interests'. They have become unhinged by [...]

                 This week the changes to the NHS have at last come centre stage in the UK political debate. I am starting to receive emails disagreeing with  the government’s plans.                There are two common criticisms of the Lansley proposals which I need to dismiss before we can begin intelligent discussion of [...]

The Tory Lib-Dem Junta has got one thing right. The Green paper on prisons was universally praised at a meeting tonight of the Commons Penal Affairs. Leading the chorus of praise was Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Rowan said the loss of liberty was the punishment of prisoners. He spoke [...]

The degree of business takeover of key public services under this Tory-led government gathers pace almost by the day.   Today’s announcement about a minimum price for alcohol to curb binge drinking is a farce.   Sir Liam Donaldson, the former chief medical officer at the Department of Health, judged that the [...]

    One Tory MP said I was 'cruel'. I thought I had been kind. Three-brained Oliver Letwin appeared before the Public Administration Committee this morning. He bristles with brilliance and shines with charm. I told him how I had emitted a whoop of joy on reading one of his speeches. He [...]

  The Tories have re-packaged a failed idea and  proudly promised that e-petitions will build a  path to a new democracy. Tony Blair fell for the  same superficially attractive myth. Enthusiasm for hi-  tech solutions is in inverse ratio to understanding of  new technology.  Tony’s knowledge of the Internet is on  a protozoan scale. He embraced e-petitions [...]

  Who are they kidding? Tough on crime Tories turn a blind eye to wide scale  'controlled' drug and alcohol use in all our prisons. Just testing I asked the Home Secretary last month to list all the prisons that are free of illegal drug use. She could not find one.  But [...]

  Pretty woman are involved in most stings - pretty men when if the victim is homosexual. I have seen no pictures of the giggling compliant woman reporters who flattered Vince Cable into a vain idiocy. But I know of Welsh newspaper who always sent their pretty boy reporter when they [...]

  The horrendous weather forecast for snow in Newport and London were a real disincentive for me to stay at home today. Parliament is really over. There are no whipped votes  either today or tomorrow. The lure to London was a private meeting of the Public Administration Committee to decide the final [...]

Well their readers are. As two of my correspondents reveal, 70% of Daily Mail readers and 90% of Guardian readers back Bob Ainsworth's call for legalisation of all drugs. Public opinion is far in advance of the shared cowardice of political parties. My own advocacy of pragmatic drug reform has helped me [...]