#michael gove

[generalelectionmusings]

Michael Gove - 2 days ago 👇

Michael Gove today 👇

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

UK Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations Michael Gove warned that Britain risks “descending into the darkness” if it fails to tackle growing antisemitism in the wake of the 7 October attacks.

In a major speech, the communities secretary said the safety of the Jewish community in the UK is the “canary in the mine” for the health of the whole political system.

“When Jewish people are under threat, all our freedoms are threatened,” he said. “The safety of the Jewish community is the canary in the mine.

“Growing antisemitism is a fever which weakens the whole body politic. There is one thing which – increasingly – unites the organisations and individuals which give cause for extremist concern: antisemitism.

“It is the common currency of hate. It is at the dark heart of their worldview. Whether Islamist, far right or hard left.”

In his speech, Gove criticised the organisers of pro-Palestine marches, at which thousands of people regularly march through London and other cities, for not doing more to prevent symbols of anti-Jewish hate.

“Many of those on these marches are thoughtful, gentle, compassionate people – driven by a desire for peace and an end to suffering,” he will say. “But they are side by side with those who are promoting hate.

“The organisers of these marches could do everything in their power to stop that. They don’t.”

[starmergeddon]

Michael Gove says the betting scandal makes it look like the Tories don't follow rules, which definitely isn't true, because the Tories never break any of the rules, wait, no, wait, stop, why aren't you voting for us anymore, come back, we promise we won't do it again, I mean, we never did it, please just vote for us, pretty please?

[michaelgovehateblog]

Michael gove recently tweeted the words "true dat" and I dislike that immensely

[scavengedluxury]

[misspeppermint2003]

World Politicians Coloured Sketch 2

Top: Coloured sketch of Michael Gove, Dominic Raab, Matt Hancock, Giorgia Meloni, Karina Milei and Maia Sandu - 2nd August 2024

Bottom: Pictures of Michael Gove, Dominic Raab, Matt Hancock, Giorgia Meloni, Karina Milei and Maia Sandu Three weeks after the first sketch, I made the second coloured sketch but of six world politicians. A big mint green rectangle is Gove was having a good time with Raab and Hancock. The pink rectangle is Milei had a relationship with Sandu, and finally the yellow square is Meloni in her pale orange outfit, which consists of blouse, jacket and pants.

[ceevee5]

We could be seeing a proper Tory meltdown.

[margaretthatchersdead]

No the fuck it won't. She didn't help when she was alive so I really fucking doubt she's going to be helping much in the ground.

[the-desolated-quill]

I don’t want to hear another word from the anti woke brigade about the BBC’s supposed left wing bias when this slimy cunt is being given a platform in a desperate attempt to rehabilitate himself. It’s bad enough Kwasi Kwarteng still gets invited to political talk shows despite tanking the economy.

[changing-my-username]

[eaglesnick]

Private Sector Good, Public Sector Bad? (3)

This is the third part of a look at former public services and utilities in Britain that have been privatised or part-privatised in the name of neoliberal economics and the mistaken belief that private enterprise is ALWAYS more efficient than publicly run bodies.

The National Health Service

The Tory Party and successive Tory governments, including the Sunak administration, vehemently deny they are slowly privatising the NHS.

“Sunak pledges to cut waits with greater healthcare choice but denies NHS privatisation plan."  (Health and Protection: 04/01/23)

Such denials are deliberately misleading. According to the World Health Organisation:

“Privatisation is where non-government bodies become increasingly involved in the financing or provision of health care services”.

The Tory Health Care Act of 2012 removed the "duty of government” to provide NHS services directly, opening up NHS care provision to the private sector. This trend has been further accelerated by the 2022 Heath and Care Act. The Guardian had this to say about the change in the law:

“The new bill will continue the dismantling of the NHS, this time by adopting more features from the US health system. For anyone who cares about the NHS, this should set off alarm bells.” (Guardian: 07/12/21)

What we need to remember when reviewing the provision of public services by private companies is that the first duty of a private company is to make profits for it’s shareholders. The profit driven motive of private enterprise may lead to more cost savings but often at the expense of quality of service

“There is only a small number of studies addressing the effect of privatisation on the quality of care offered by health-care providers, and yet within this small group of longitudinal studies, we find a fairly consistent picture. At the very least, health-care privatisation has almost never had a positive effect on the quality of care." (Lancet: "The effect of health-care privatisation on the quality of care”, March 2024

In 2019, (November 29th) the Guardian reported that private firms had received £15bn over a five-year period for NHS provision. By  2019/20 Health Care Commissioners were spending £10bn a year on services delivered by the private sector. (The Kings Fund: Is the NHS being privatised, 01/03/21)

Despite this massive increase in NHS private provision, we all know the health service is on its knees. Before 2010 multi-year funding of the largely publicly run NHS saw the NHS improve its service provision. 14 years of Tory government, two health care acts later, and we see a total reversal in those trends. By 2014 signs of stress were becoming apparent. David Cameron and George Osborne deliberately starved the NHS of money, NHS budgets rising on average only 1.4% between 2009-19 compared to the 3.7% yearly rises since the NHS was first established.

The NHS is slowly bleeding to death: emergency departments are overcrowded, extended waiting times in A&E are leading to over 200 unnecessary deaths per week, there are not enough hospital beds, staff are demoralised, and doctors strikes continue because the government refuses to pay public sector workers a fair wage. Waiting lists continue to grow, it is impossible to find a NHS dentist and sick people have to wait weeks for a simple GP appointment.

This systematic rundown of the NHS by successive Tory governments is not all bad news as privatisation has benefited the lucky few.

Staff agencies are doing very nicely thank you, the BBC reporting that:

“Companies providing freelance staff to the NHS to cover for big shortages of doctors and nurses have seen their income rise by tens of millions of pounds since 2019.” (24/03/23)

Total spending on agency staff in England was £3bn in 2021, one hospital reportedly paying £5200 to a free-lance doctor for a single shift. It would be nice to say that doctors are not complicit in the gradual privatisation of the NHS but that would be untrue.

“Hundred’s of England's NHS consultants have shares in private clinics.”  (Guardian: 21/01/22)

Over a billion pounds has been generated by these set ups since 2015

But it is not only doctors who profit personally from privatisation. During the pandemic, top Tories were very quick to pass on lucrative contracts to their friends in business. These largely unscrutinised public contracts have drawn accusations of “cronyism” and "chumocracy". Others have been more blunt, the Financial Times  (06/08/21) asking the question: “When does cronyism become corruption?"

The shortage of PPE during the pandemic led to contracts being awarded to companies without competition. Literally billions of pounds were given to private companies to supply gowns, gloves, and face masks.

“But the way these deals have been given to firms has led to concerns over a lack of detail about why particular suppliers were chosen. The government has also been accused of favouring firms with political connections to the Conservative Party with a "high-priority lane".  (BBC News: 20/04/21)

This accusation turned out to be true.

"UK government’s ‘VIP lane' for PPE suppliers was unlawful. High Court rules.”  (Financial Times 12/01/22)

Although Michael Gove claimed that “every single procurement decision" went through an eight-stage-process” the courts found that nearly fifty PPE deals were fast tracked by Conservative ministers, who awarded contracts worth £5bn to companies with political or Whitehall connections.  Four Tory MP’s and three Tory peers were named as “referrers” Michael Gove, Penny Mordant and Esther McVey are said to have personally recommended firms.

Some MP’s have done a lot more than fast-tracking private health care provision. Many of them have actually invested in private health care companies while others are happy to accept financial donations from them.

Wes Streeting, Shadow Health Secretary and the poster boy for Keir Starmer’s Labour Party, is said to have accepted “£22,5000 in private donations from private health firms last year.” (VOX Political: 30/04/23) Other Labour notaries are also said to have financial connections to private health care companies. Keir Starmer has received £157,500, Yvette Cooper has received £295,205, and Dan Jarvis has received £137,500. (Labour Heartlands: Selling Out the NHS: The Shocking Links Between Labour MP’s and Private Healthcare Donations: 17/06/23)

On the Conservative side, The Mirror (21/01/23) reports that Penny Mordant accepted £10,000 from care home firm Renaissance Care, while ex-health minister Steve Brine made £200 an hour giving “strategic advice” to drug firm Signa, before resigning in 2021. Publicly available information tells that that at least 28 Tory MP’s and Peers have had ties to private health and medical groups. Even the former Health Secretary Sajid Javid had share options in a Californian tech company dealing in health sector software.

So, while the NHS slowly disintegrates for want of proper investment and strategic planning, individual MP's and private health care providers reap the rewards of privatisation. Should this in any way be doubt then listen to what  former Conservative Prime Minister John Major had to say as long ago as June 2016:

“The NHS is about as safe from them (Tory Brexiteers) as a pet hamster would be with a hungry python.”

Unfortunately, and to its eternal shame, the same can now be said of Keir Starmer’s Labour Party.

[generalelectionmusings]

[lost-carcosa]

Choose your friends wisely to confront extremism, says Michael Gove.

Also Michael Gove:

[nocontextwife]

"w...why would you go to a club dressed as Michael Gove, even if you were Michael Gove?"

[idkummok]

The Kemi Badenoch / Michael Gove beef is so funny to me for some reason. Like if I was in a gc called ‘Evil Plotters’ with someone, that’d be my ride or die for life but that’s just me.

[cindydacatpink]

Eyes Colour in United Kingdom/British Politicians Part 2

- Vince Cable

- William Hague

- Theresa May

- Iain Duncan Smith

- Eric Pickles

- Michael Gove

- Chris Huhne