Thursday 14 August 2014

John Major right, David Cameron wrong!

I fully accept it would be naive to think that there are no people from the poorer EU countries who have a motivation to come over to the UK and claim benefits, rather than find work.  But the full extent of such concerns have been deliberately over-played by the British Prime Minister David Cameron, who is more concerned about playing to the tune of Conservative Eurosceptics, rather than the British national interest.

Sir John Major is a former British Conservative Prime Minister with a rather different perspective than Cameron when it comes to the subject of immigration into the UK.  Sir John speaks of the entrepreneurial values and attitudes many immigrants possess, referring to it as a Conservative instinct.

Sir John has more of a real life experience of actually integrating with people who have come from abroad to live in Britain, as demonstrated by his upbringing in Brixton.  By contrast David Cameron and much of his inner circle grew up with privileges, and are detached from the realities many ordinary Brits live with on a number of levels.

Some people will look at Sir John Major's comments and dismiss out of hand the very suggestion that people from ethnic minority backgrounds can be at one with "the nasty party."  It is important to remember though that there are political cycles.  Whatever people (who remember) may think of Sir John's administration of the 1990s, his vision was certainly "a one-nation Tory" vision.  That certainly is not the Cameron way!

Tuesday 12 August 2014

Yes- Drunkens should pay for NHS treatment!

Many people love a drink, and that includes me.  But increased financial pressures on Britain's National Health Service do mean something has to give somewhere along the line.  For those individuals who drink to excess, then I feel that healthcare costs as a result such as the use of Accident & Emergency, should in theory be reimbursed from those individuals.

I don't support US-style healthcare insurance; I do support what I consider to be desirable ideas which will keep the NHS alive, and protect the principle of healthcare which is free at the point of delivery.  If someone is choosing to drink to excess, with a full knowledge of the potential damage they are doing to their body, then I consider it to be questionable as to whether that someone automatically deserves free healthcare treatment.  Excessive drinking also very often leads to undesirable anti-social behaviour.

Of course there will be some instances whereby recouping charges may be impractical.  For instance, there may be some instances in which it may be difficult to either prove identity, or if the drunken individual is actually culpable themselves for the level of alcohol consumed.  I do concede that in some such cases, any legal challenge could incur costs which would make a cost recuperation exercise unworkable.  But that said, I would not have thought we are talking about a high percentage here.

When it comes to drinking, I have to admit that I am no saint!  But that said I do now normally only drink one night a week, with maybe a couple of extra nights in the winter in which I will have a small whisky sample and/or an extra pint or two if I am at a football match.  What I do know is that I have never participated in some of the disgraceful anti-social scenes fuelled by alcohol, which have scarred many British weekends during recent times.

I believe any measure to recoup healthcare costs from individuals who drink to excess, will ultimately only send a positive messsage about how alcohol-fuelled anti-social behaviour must be corrected!