(no subject)

The votes yesterday in the Lords in favour of the NHS bill were, paradoxically, a sign that the government knows it's in some trouble. A turnout of 330 in favour of the bill isn't happenstance, not just some Lords who happened to be stopping by on their way to lunch; it involved whisking people down to London from the furthest reaches, by the ankles if necessary, to ensure the bill limped through.

In the long run this will make absolutely no difference to what will become the Health and Social Care Act, of course, as almost any changes that noble Lords manage to inflict on the bill, and I can't stress this enough,

WILL BE REVERSED IN THE COMMONS.

This will be one of the occasions when, barring the merest tweak, Parliament acts essentially as a sluice running from the Cabinet room to the statute book. It's no consolation to know that in the even longer run, thanks to their loyal behaviour over this, the fate of the Lib Dems will very probably mirror that of the NHS.

Earl Howe, the Tory minister in the Lords tasked with seeing this through, is almost certain to become a bogeyman in some quarters over the next few months. This will be undeserved as he is a genuinely decent and honest man, who certainly believes in some of what his government tells him to say. For example, he honestly means it when he says,

Earl Howe: The bill does not introduce a free market for all. It does not change competition law or widen the scope of competition law. It does introduce a framework by which competition can be effectively managed,

despite the fact that this is basically saying, "Of course we're not driving over a cliff. We're going to park safely and firmly with our wheels hanging over the edge."