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There's a first

:)

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Also the massive profits (and bonuses!!!) companies make irk the vast majority of voters. Labour ofers minimal control of this in the name of the free market.

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If people have some time I would recommend they take the trouble to read the whole speech that Charles Clarke gave at the London School of Economics in the Economic Policy And Taxation After Blair
http://www.charlesclarke.org.uk/

Let's charge for NHS and schools, says Clarke
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/08/nhealth208.xml

Clarke is making some very important points.  We know that public spending is going to grow at much slower pace after the upcoming Comprehensive Spending Review.  The respected Institute for Fiscal Studies has pointed this out in great detail. As Clarke sensibly say's in his speech: "Even if this is combined with the annual 3% efficiency savings proposed in last December's Pre-Budget Report I very much doubt that this will be enough to meet the likely increases in demand for spending in those areas. Nor do I believe that there will be any real appetite to raise general levels of taxation to meet those demands. Indeed my own view is that such general increases would be difficult to justify".  We also know that it's very difficult to achieve efficiency savings, a report last week found it almost impossible to quantify most of the Treasury's so-called Gershon-savings.  Also the more savings that the Government tries to make the more it will upset public servants and unions.

So Clarke's argument's is that there is a case for 'co-funding' and calls for debate on it, in my view perfectly sensibly.  I think some forms of charging in our public services would be more than acceptable, how it would be implemented is another debate.  But was the NHS set up to treat people who had drunk to excess on a Friday/Saturday night and then vomit there guts out and require A&E services, is there not a case for invoicing them for the use of NHS services?  Is there not a case for charging for IVF treatment on the NHS?  Also there must a case for charging for things such as tattoo removals etc?  Charging surely will be introduced for missed appointments for the GP or Consultants?  Is there a case for charging actually making an appointment with a GP i.e. say £10, I believe they have introduced this in France.  It might not be comfortable but given the upcoming decrease in public spending the Government and all political parties are going to have to think of imaginative ways of funding public services.  There seems to be no desire from the three mains parties to increase taxes, all three parties have accepted that spending will slow, so something has to give?  Either we increase borrowing to even higher levels than they already are, or the Government starts massive cuts of services, or something imaginative is done.

What's really depressing about this is the fact only Liz and CitizenAndreas were prepared to acknowledge that there is a real problem here.

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