The Parliamentary term is drawing to a close and the heat in the Commons is intense. The thick carpets and heavy curtains were not made with tropical weather in mind.
At Health Questions, Cathy Jamieson, (Lab, Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valey) began with a question to minister Anna Soubry about the branding of cigarette packets. Who was it, asked Jamieson, that over-ruled the Government's policy on plain packaging? The implication of this was clear—the Prime Minister's new chief strategist, Lynton Crosby, was the culprit, and had spiked the legislation. But the minister was having none of it.The Government, the House learned, is waiting to see how the experiment with plain packaging goes in Australia, where it has recently been introduced. Once the evidence on its efficacy is clear, the Government will act.
It was a reply that could be described as "mealymouthed" at best, a fact not lost on one government backbencher, who stood to ask whether in future this impressively high burden of proof would be applied to all Government policy. The Minister rose and in a voice dripping with acid thanked the "Honourable Friend," for the question, the second of those two words all but spat onto the Commons floor.
Diane Abbott (Lab, Hackney N and Stoke Newington) asked ministers why the details of meetings between members of the Government team and Phillip Morris, the cigarette manufacturer were still unavailable. All roads, she suggested, led back to Lynton Crosby. The Labour benches liked this, but the heat was terrible and the scattering of Opposition Members barely got up two thirds of a cheer—a feeble noise that soon vanished altogether when Jeremy Hunt, the Secretary of State for Health, said that the minutes in question had been published this morning. The Hon Member should not subscribe to "conspiracy theories," he added.
A series of questions followed from the Opposition benches concerning health spending, all of which contained within them the assumption that spending was declining. The Ministerial answers all pointed out that spending was increasing.
But then came Andy Burnham (Lab, Leigh). Burnham ran the NHS under the last Labour government and has had much defensive work to do of late. The Government and some commentators have said that the Mid Staffs Hospital scandal has his fingerprints on it, a suggestion that he has been very keen to consign to the dustbin. Burnham fought off a Humphreys attack on this morning's Today programme, and did so with a good deal of vigour. He displayed that same vigour at the dispatch box today, although there was a notable shortage of front bench backers at his side.
Isn't it the case, Burnham asked, that "this government ignored," the warnings left by Labour about Thameside and Basildon hospitals when it left office? Hunt replied saying that he was surprised the Burnham wanted to bring up Thameside, seeing as Labour ignored the whistleblowers and rising death rates and did nothing about it.
Burnham replied that seven of the 14 hospitals in the Keogh Review had between them cut more than 1,000 nurses. When would the Government "stop dithering" he asked and get a grip on the problems with staffing levels?
Hunt said that he was surprised that Burnham wanted to discuss the Keogh Review, as it's the review that Labour never wanted to have.
The session ended. In the corridor outside the temperature was very high. Two journalists were taking the stairs back up to their offices. "Don't worry," said one to the other. "Not long now."
A statement on the Bruce Keogh Report was to follow.
