Is Gordon Brown Finished?

It has been reported that Brown is planning a last ditch revamp of his campaign but it all sounds like Custer's last stand as it is beginning to look like the labour party will suffer a massive defeat.

He needs to face up to the reality that the Labour Party has run out of time as he has had 13 years to get the economy and the health system right and it all has gone so very badly wrong.

Brown is yesterday's man and more than that he is a complete failure for the ordinary working man.

He didn't save the world,as he claimed, he ruined the British economy, banking system and had a stealth tax raid on pensions all at the same time.

Official figures show that the UK economy has only grown by 0.2% in the quarter to 31st March 2010 which is half of the 0.4% in the quarter to 31st December 2009.

If you look behind the figures the truth is that the economy has grown slower under Labour than it did under the Conservatives' for the period 1979 to 1997 where growth averaged at 2.2% per annum compared to just 2% under Labour.

Now lets have a quick look at the health pledges by Labour which seem rather confusing and convoluted to me.

I quote "A maximum two-week guarantee on cancer referrals, and an 18-week guarantee for hospital treatment, as well as rights to free health checks. Over the next five years we will focus on early cancer diagnosis, giving GPs direct access to ultrasound and MRI scans, to create a right to diagnostic tests, with results, within one week."

Sounds good but what exactly does it mean? I say this as it is not written in plain english but in what sounds like spin talk.

Lets examine it point by point.

A two week guarantee on cancer referrals, so does this mean from the time you see your GP you will see a Cancer specialist in two weeks? First the GP does not always get the diagnosis correct the first time. I speak from experience as my father was told that a minor bump he had on his forehead was of no significance despite having had two operations already. The system currently seems to work on a four week cycle, so your appointment is in four weeks and your follow up is in four weeks. With my father the hospital lost the biopsy results so that lost four weeks. Four weeks is clearly set so they can keep their statistics looking good. I do not honestly believe with the current economic pressures that Brown can produce these guarantees. In my view ii is Pie in the Sky.

The labour Manifesto also states:- "A new National Care Service with free personal care for the elderly with highest needs, paid for by cutting red tape in the NHS and local councils."

Well the most obvious question is why have we got this red tape in the NHS and local councils in the first place. Lets face it Labour have been in power for 13 years so they have had more than enough time. The truth is that Labour is the party of paper work and quangos.

These guarantees should already be in place now not in five years.

They then state that "Are the Tories a change you can afford? The Tories would scrap Labour's two-week cancer referral guarantee; the 18-week treatment guarantee; and the four-hour A&E waiting time guarantee."

On their web site they show a link which reads "they will scrap all of Labour's guarantees for patients" this link takes you to the Daily Mail but its not a current issue as its June 2008. That's just how warped and twisted labour are taking statements that are not current but the real point knock out blow is that in that article the Conservatives set out a far better health system.

In this article the conservative leader Mr Cameron has stated that his government's 'ambition' will be to do even better, improving cancer survival rates, stroke care and treatment of diabetes so that it is 'among the best in Europe'. Not some paper guarantee but a health system that is among the best in Europe.

He believes that a National Health Service working at the same level as the best health systems in the world would save at least 100,000 lives a year.

Despite the billions that Labour has spent on the NHS, Britain still wallows very close to the bottom of the table when it comes to five-year cancer survival rates.

Britain is below countries like Germany and Sweden and at the same level as Poland and Slovenia.

Cameron goes on to point out that we have one of the worst records in dealing with the impact of diabetes, especially among children.

Another important point is the evidence that British people are far more likely to die from a stroke than in any other country in Western Europe.

So from my perspective I am not interested in a meaning less guarantee from a government with a track record of failure.

As they say the proof of the pudding is in the eating and Brown has just not performed. So I have no reason that he will perform on the NHS.

For many people he comes over as a clown and the sooner he goes the better.


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The Author writes many articles on politics and for further information one of his web sites is at Gordon Brown Britain