DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Strike out waste in our bloated NHS

DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Strike out waste in our bloated NHS

There is never a good time to fall ill. But as the country braces itself for the biggest ever wave of NHS strikes, this week is a particularly poor one.

Nurses, paramedics and ambulance drivers are walking out in pursuit of astronomical and unrealistic pay claims.

Thousands of operations will be cancelled, leaving people in pain for longer, while lives will be put at risk if sick and injured patients can’t get to hospital.

Those who strike should ask themselves who pays their wages. It is not the Government, but hard-pressed taxpayers.

It’s not as if the NHS is hard done by. Record sums in real terms have been pumped in by the Tories.

DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Nurses, paramedics and ambulance drivers are walking out in pursuit of astronomical and unrealistic pay claims

But as we reveal, health bosses spent a jaw-dropping £144million last year on private ambulances and taxis for patients.

This comes on top of the countless millions the behemoth forks out on ‘woke’ non-jobs – including diversity and inclusion managers – and compensation.

Perhaps there would be more money for pay rises if the NHS wasn’t so wasteful.

Teachers need answers

How illuminating that after the transgender prisoner row blew a hole in the logic of Nicola Sturgeon’s shambolic gender reforms, support for her and Scottish independence has plummeted.

The public, unlike the SNP and Labour, are concerned that self-ID puts women and girls at risk from predatory males.

So this is the perfect moment for the Government to reiterate that teachers are under no legal obligation to refer to children who say they are trans by their ‘preferred’ pronouns, let them use toilets and changing rooms saved for the opposite sex, or keep their parents in the dark.

Whatever militant activists may claim, this position – set out by then attorney general Suella Braverman last year – is not transphobic. It is basic safeguarding.

But Education Secretary Gillian Keegan, who says 16-year-olds are mature enough to choose their own genders, is dragging her feet on publishing official guidance.

This dithering is bad for teachers, bad for parents – and bad for pupils.

DAILY MAIL COMMENT: How illuminating that after the transgender prisoner row blew a hole in the logic of Nicola Sturgeon’s shambolic gender reforms

Defying convention

After the Nazi horrors of the Second World War, the European Convention on Human Rights was created with the most noble intentions.

But the world has changed and, today, exploitation of this outdated set of laws is one reason why it is so difficult to deport migrants who arrive here illegally.

So it is heartening to learn that Rishi Sunak is prepared to extricate Britain from the charter if European judges continue to frustrate his plans to drastically toughen up UK asylum laws.

With a record 65,000 people predicted to cross the Channel unlawfully in small boats this year, he hopes draconian legislation can end this scandal.

But the European courts have already delayed the Rwanda scheme – and activists will surely demand they meddle again.

Voters overwhelmingly want the Prime Minister to solve the migrant crisis. If pulling out of the convention is the only way, he may have to face down the shrieking human-rights lobby and do it.

  • Jeremy Hunt’s failure to restore duty-free shopping for foreign visitors is not just driving customers from our shores – luxury brands are also diverting investment from the UK to flagship stores abroad. The Chancellor aims to raise £2billion, however that would be dwarfed by revenue lost not just in shopping and other spending if travellers go elsewhere, but also as fewer jobs will be created. Ministers want Britain to become a holiday heaven. Instead, this tourist tax is pushing wealthy shoppers and retailers into Europe’s arms.

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