His stubbornness could pay off—or it could backfire catastrophically
by Peter Kellner / February 12, 2016 / Leave a comment
Those protesting Health Minister Jeremy Hunt’s plans to impose new contracts on junior doctors group outside the Department of Health in Westminster, London, on 11th February 2016 ©Anthony Devlin/PA Wire/Press Association Images
Read more: Junior doctors’ strike—will Corbyn miss an open goal?
Were Harold Macmillan alive today, he would surely update his famous injunction: “There are three bodies no sensible man directly challenges: the Roman Catholic Church, the Brigade of Guards and the National Union of Mineworkers.” These days it would make far more sense to substitute the British Medical Association for the virtually defunct NUM.
The Government’s dispute with junior hospital doctors looks like an exercise in political madness. Polls show that voters sympathise with the strikes. Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, no doubt hoped that cancelled operations would turn the public against the doctors. If anything, it is Hunt who is losing ground. He, not the BMA, is being blamed for the disruptions and delays in our hospitals.
However Hunt should not be surprised. Every time YouGov asks people how much they trust different groups to tell the truth, doctors come near the top and politicians near the bottom. I doubt whether many people really understand the details of the proposed new contract, and whether the typical junior doctor doing a typical a…
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