UK
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NHS IT boss Kelsey wrongly claims care.data leaflet sent to 100% of homes By Jane Fae
Confidence in NHS England’s commitment to transparency and openness received another blow this morning as a full and frank explanation of yesterday’s events by NHS IT Director Tim Kelsey made two more inaccurate and misleading statements about the care.data leafleting process. Continue reading
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NHS England delays share of personal data By Jane Fae
As criticism of the controversial care.data scheme reached a crescendo last night, and with at least two possible legal challenges now under way, NHS England finally gave in to critics, announcing a further six month pause to the project – and yet more money to be spent on publicity campaigns. Continue reading
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On Brighton beach: austerity, alienation and the battle for democracy By Adam Ramsay
The neo-liberal project has purged democracy from almost every corner of our lives. In doing so, it has changed our understanding of the world, and so who we are. A council tax referendum in Brighton would be a signal that England’s democratic soul is still alive. Continue reading
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Statewatch News Online, 18 February 2014 (04/14)
18 February 2014 — Statewatch – e-mail: office@statewatch.org Thanks to all those who made a generous donation last month. It would be really appreciated if other Statewatchers could make a contribution this month. Kind regards, Tony Bunyan Continue reading
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Autoasphyxiation – Who’ll stop the market suffocating the NHS? By David Zigmond
The toxic burden of the market is dooming the NHS to disintegration and depersonalisation – yet GPs coralled into Clinical Commissioning Groups aren’t even allowed to question it. Continue reading
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Snowden’s lawyer: ‘Lawyers targeted in ‘democratic countries’ on the basis of who they represent’
Questions must be raised about the integrity of a judicial system that allows attorneys working on someone’s case to be harassed and intimidated on the basis of whom they represent, Jesselyn Radack, Snowden’s lawyer, told RT. Continue reading
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Top Brit docs wade into GP data grab row, demand ‘urgent’ NHS England talks By Kelly Fiveash
Pressure is mounting on NHS England to stall its incoming data grab of GP-stored medical records, after another health body said that the government needed to improve public awareness of the controversial scheme. Continue reading
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Widespread abstention in UK’s Wythenshawe by-election By Julie Hyland
The Wythenshawe and Sale East by-election held Thursday was a lacklustre affair marked by widespread abstention and the absence of any popular base for all the competing parties–the coalition government in particular. Continue reading
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The NHS: A Symbol in Peril By Doctormagiot
The NHS is now locked into a transformative process since the enactment of Andrew Lansley’s Health and Social Care Bill last year. My friends in the world of public health tell me there is a fair amount of confusion as to what is actually going on, with the dissolution of primary care trusts in favour… Continue reading
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The Iron Lady may be no more, but her poisonous free-market legacy lives on
Despite the undeniable devastation caused by late PM Margaret Thatcher and the free market fundamentalist ideology that bears her name, Thatcherism continues to dominate British society politically, economically and socially. Continue reading
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Police State UK: Stripping UK citizenship by stealth By Alice Ross and Patrick Galey
Despite official denials, evidence has emerged that the Home Office has deliberately waited until UK citizens it plans to deprive of their citizenship have left the country. This requires no judicial approval—and greatly hinders any appeal Continue reading
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The nasty country? Debating immigration in the UK By Roger Roberts
A new Bill removes the right to appeal wrong immigration decisions, excludes undocumented migrants from the rental market, turns landlords into immigration police and extends charges for NHS care. On Monday Lords debated the proposals. Continue reading
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UK watchdog takes another bite out of failing outsourcer G4S By John Grayson
Stephen Small spends a lot of his time trying to convince Members of Parliament that his employer is nothing like as bad as they think. He works for G4S, the gigantic security company that holds £2 billion worth of UK government contracts spanning public health, welfare, education, immigration and the justice sector. Continue reading
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Ed Miliband, the NHS, and the lurch back towards Blairism By John Lister
Ed Miliband’s Hugo Young lecture this week represents a giant step back to Blairism, and an extended statement of Labour’s failure to get the message. Continue reading
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GPs slam NHS England for poor publicity of data grab plan By Kelly Fiveash
The Tory-led government has failed to make a good case for its plans to share GP medical records with information that is already stored by NHS England, the Royal College of General Practitioners warned on Wednesday. Continue reading
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Years of government cuts worsen UK flooding By Paul Mitchell
The government has sought to shift blame for the weeks of misery and chaos caused by the floods onto the EA. Accusations by Floods Minister Eric Pickles that the agency was driven by political correctness, gave bad advice to government, and attempted to divide town and country over funding matters have been met with almost… Continue reading
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UK: ACT NOW to protect your medical confidentiality
Sometime in January 2014 you may have received a leaflet via junk mail, entitled ‘Better information means better care‘ (2MB PDF file). It may not be clear from the leaflet that a significant change in what is done with your medical records is about to happen. Continue reading
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The fight against TTIP is also a fight for public services everywhere By Ruth Bergan
The 1999 Battle for Seattle was a moment of triumph for trade campaigning. Activists from across the world came together with developing country governments and stopped the World Trade Organisation (WTO) from agreeing damaging trade rules. Through the 2000s campaigners continued to mobilise against the WTO and Europe’s unfair trade deals with the world’s poorest… Continue reading
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How safe are your medical records?
At Liberty we’ve reacted with significant concern over NHS England’s new plans for a ‘care.data’ database. This could see your private medical records – including highly sensitive data – shared on a single database. Continue reading
The New Dark Age 