Saturday, 15 August 2009

On the NHS, Hannan's 'last word' is as disingenuous as his first

From France, and apparently completely mystified as to the basis of the controversy he has caused, Daniel Hannan writes:

As far as I can tell, three separate charges are being laid against me. First, that I have insulted NHS workers. Second, that I want to impose a US-style healthcare system on Britain. Third, that I have made criticisms overseas that I wouldn’t make in Britain.


Er, no. The charge being laid against you is that you attempted to drag down the quality of debate over NHS reform by adopting a time-honoured tactic of the hard-right culture warriors of the US - namely that of peddling horror-stories and misinformation in order to blacken the reputation of a public service you oppose on ideological grounds. Like the staggering claim that, thanks in part to nationalised healthcare, Britain is 'maybe a couple of years behind Zimbabwe' in terms of bankruptcy and impoverishment.

Of course, now that Hannan has been found out he's presenting himself as the victim of a vast media conspiracy to snuff out dissent against the prevailing liberal establishment. Now, where else have we seen that recently? Oh, yeah.

Like Sarah Palin, Daniel Hannan is a consumate culture warrior.

0 comments:

Post a Comment

New as this blog is, I haven't yet found the need to set out anything resembling a comments policy. Until such a need arises, the only rule that seems appropriate is: please be civil. I think everyone has enough common sense to know, roughly, what that entails, without further elaboration.