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Health and Social Care Bill

Time is against me, I am afraid. The final thing that ordinary health service workers would wish me to say is that if anything has exemplified the unfortunate practice of politicians of saying one thing and doing another, it is the frequency and vehemence with which the Government decried top-down reorganisations when they were in opposition. In 2006, the right hon. Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), then Leader of the Opposition said:"““So I make this commitment to the NHS and all who work in it. No more pointless reorganisations.””" In 2007, the then shadow Health Secretary said:"““The NHS needs no more pointless organisational upheaval””." In 2009, still as Leader of the Opposition, the right hon. Member for Witney said:"““But first I want to tell you what we're not going to do. There will be no more of those pointless re-organisations””." Then, the coalition agreement of 2010—I do not want to touch on private grief here for Liberal Democrat Members—said:"““We will stop the top-down reorganisations of the NHS that have got in the way of patient care.””" We are thus presented with a Bill that is based on a bizarre sort of life support—the arrogance of the coalition leadership. Now we know that the doctors, the nurses, the midwives, the health visitors, the paramedics, the cleaners, the porters, and the scientific and technical workers will do their very best with this Bill if it becomes law. That is what Clare Gerada was saying this morning: if it becomes law, they will do their very best, but why should they have to see an already discredited Bill on the statute book? Why should they have to see more bureaucracy, which is what the Bill will mean, and why should they have to see billions of pounds wasted at a time when the health service is under unprecedented financial pressure? Government Members have sought to denigrate those who oppose the Bill by saying that their opposition is merely party-political. Of course it is not: we are proud to be part of a coalition of concern about the Bill. My right hon. Friend the Member for South Shields (David Miliband), my hon. Friend the Member for Stalybridge and Hyde (Jonathan Reynolds), my right hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Gorton (Sir Gerald Kaufman), my hon. Friends the Members for Stoke-on-Trent North (Joan Walley) and for Worsley and Eccles South (Barbara Keeley), my right hon. Friend the Member for Wentworth and Dearne (John Healey) and my hon. Friend the Member for Bethnal Green and Bow (Rushanara Ali) spelt out our concern about the Bill. It is extraordinary that we can proceed while the Government are still refusing to reveal the risk register. There is concern throughout the NHS about the fragmentation that will result from the Bill. Government Members say that we are scaremongering—[Hon. Members: ““You are.””]—but private sector companies such as Humana and Capita are already advertising their willingness to take over GPs' commissioning powers on their websites. The NHS does not belong to the Secretary of State, and it does not belong to the Deputy Prime Minister. It belongs to the people of Britain who built it after the war. The NHS is not for sale, and I urge the House to support the motion.