Turkish crime gangs in north London thought to be linked to spate of killings To the killers who recruited him, teenager Santre Sanchez Gayle was cheap, disposable and, most importantly, unconnected to them in any way. His role in the murder of a young Turkish mother has uncovered an emerging pattern in which powerful crime syndicates hire children to do their dirty work. Gayle, pictured below, a disaffected black teenager from north-west London, is beginning a 20-year sentence for murder this week after gunning down Gulistan Subasi, 26, in a professional hit for which he was paid £200. At the time he carried out the killing he was just 15. However, the people who planned the killing of Subasi, pictured right, remain at large, and police inquires have focused on members of one of the biggest Turkish crime syndicates in the UK, a gang which has controlled up to 90% of the heroin entering the country. Subasi’s shooting on her doorstep in Hackney was one of a spate of killings connected to Turkish organised criminal gangs in north London. In all cases, police inquiries have uncovered similarities in the murders: the use of young black teenagers as hired assassins. “It is an established methodology that has emerged during the inquiries into these killings,” said a police source. “Each has a similar modus operandi, and it is clearly the case that, in order to distance themselves from the murders, these Turkish gangs are using these young men to do their work for them. “They are seen as disposable and they have no connections to the Turkish groups. They are hired through middle men to keep the distance and make sure there are no connections between the killer and those who hired him. In the case of Gayle and other young boys like him, their lives are ruined, but those who hired them remain at large.” On the same night that Subasi was killed in March 2009, Ahmet Paytak, a 50-year-old shopkeeper from Holloway, north London, was murdered in the doorway of Euro Wine and Food, his grocery store, by a gunman riding pillion on a motorbike. Paytak’s 21-year-old son, Husyein, was shot in the leg as he turned to face the killer. Paytak, a family man, was an innocent victim of rivalry between Turkish gangs over the distribution of heroin in the capital. His death led to more bloodshed. In October 2009, Oktay Erbasli, 23 – said to be a prominent member of a crime gang known as the Tottenham Boys – was shot dead as he waited in a Range Rover at traffic lights at a busy junction. His five-year-old stepson seated beside him escaped unhurt. Within three days there was retaliation with the killing in Clapton, east London of Cem Duzgun, 21, who had been playing snooker in a social club with friends when two hooded men approached him and opened fire with a semi-automatic weapon. Apart from Gayle, only one man has been convicted in connection with these four killings. Last November, Michael James, 31 was found guilty of the murder of Paytak and the attempted murder of his son. It was James who had driven the stolen motorbike used in the murder, but his pillion passenger, who fired the fatal shots, has never been caught. In all cases, those who organised the killings have escaped justice. Within Gayle’s community in Kensal Green, north London, his conviction this week has caused anger and concern. The same jury that convicted the teenager found Subasi’s estranged husband, Serdar Ozbek, not guilty of murder. Police are still hunting Ozbek’s brother Hussain, who has fled from the UK and is thought to be in Turkey. Crucial evidence heard in court revealed that Gayle sent a text message to Hussain shortly after he killed Subasi. Gayle, a troubled teenager who dealt in cannabis and ran with a street gang known as the Kensal Green Boys, was expelled from schools and attended a pupil-referral unit in Brent. Until he murdered Subasi, however, his criminality had been confined to cannabis dealing and attempted robbery. Tunde Banjoko, chief executive of Leap, a charity working with black and minority ethnic young people, said: “It is very worrying and there is a lot of anger about this. “You have to ask why a 15-year-old black teenager from Kensal Green kills a woman he has never met and has nothing to do with? If this is a trend, then I would like to have this discussion out there because it is horrifying.” Sentencing Gayle, Judge Stephen Kramer made it clear there were others who had planned the killing. “It’s been submitted you were an easily led, immature youngster who, if money was involved was capable of violence.” Nevertheless, he said, the teenager had been responsible for what amounted to “an efficient, ruthless and clinical execution”. Crime Drugs Drugs trade Drugs policy Sandra Laville guardian.co.uk
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Turkish crime gangs in north London thought to be linked to spate of killings To the killers who recruited him, teenager Santre Sanchez Gayle was cheap, disposable and, most importantly, unconnected to them in any way. His role in the murder of a young Turkish mother has uncovered an emerging pattern in which powerful crime syndicates hire children to do their dirty work. Gayle, pictured below, a disaffected black teenager from north-west London, is beginning a 20-year sentence for murder this week after gunning down Gulistan Subasi, 26, in a professional hit for which he was paid £200. At the time he carried out the killing he was just 15. However, the people who planned the killing of Subasi, pictured right, remain at large, and police inquires have focused on members of one of the biggest Turkish crime syndicates in the UK, a gang which has controlled up to 90% of the heroin entering the country. Subasi’s shooting on her doorstep in Hackney was one of a spate of killings connected to Turkish organised criminal gangs in north London. In all cases, police inquiries have uncovered similarities in the murders: the use of young black teenagers as hired assassins. “It is an established methodology that has emerged during the inquiries into these killings,” said a police source. “Each has a similar modus operandi, and it is clearly the case that, in order to distance themselves from the murders, these Turkish gangs are using these young men to do their work for them. “They are seen as disposable and they have no connections to the Turkish groups. They are hired through middle men to keep the distance and make sure there are no connections between the killer and those who hired him. In the case of Gayle and other young boys like him, their lives are ruined, but those who hired them remain at large.” On the same night that Subasi was killed in March 2009, Ahmet Paytak, a 50-year-old shopkeeper from Holloway, north London, was murdered in the doorway of Euro Wine and Food, his grocery store, by a gunman riding pillion on a motorbike. Paytak’s 21-year-old son, Husyein, was shot in the leg as he turned to face the killer. Paytak, a family man, was an innocent victim of rivalry between Turkish gangs over the distribution of heroin in the capital. His death led to more bloodshed. In October 2009, Oktay Erbasli, 23 – said to be a prominent member of a crime gang known as the Tottenham Boys – was shot dead as he waited in a Range Rover at traffic lights at a busy junction. His five-year-old stepson seated beside him escaped unhurt. Within three days there was retaliation with the killing in Clapton, east London of Cem Duzgun, 21, who had been playing snooker in a social club with friends when two hooded men approached him and opened fire with a semi-automatic weapon. Apart from Gayle, only one man has been convicted in connection with these four killings. Last November, Michael James, 31 was found guilty of the murder of Paytak and the attempted murder of his son. It was James who had driven the stolen motorbike used in the murder, but his pillion passenger, who fired the fatal shots, has never been caught. In all cases, those who organised the killings have escaped justice. Within Gayle’s community in Kensal Green, north London, his conviction this week has caused anger and concern. The same jury that convicted the teenager found Subasi’s estranged husband, Serdar Ozbek, not guilty of murder. Police are still hunting Ozbek’s brother Hussain, who has fled from the UK and is thought to be in Turkey. Crucial evidence heard in court revealed that Gayle sent a text message to Hussain shortly after he killed Subasi. Gayle, a troubled teenager who dealt in cannabis and ran with a street gang known as the Kensal Green Boys, was expelled from schools and attended a pupil-referral unit in Brent. Until he murdered Subasi, however, his criminality had been confined to cannabis dealing and attempted robbery. Tunde Banjoko, chief executive of Leap, a charity working with black and minority ethnic young people, said: “It is very worrying and there is a lot of anger about this. “You have to ask why a 15-year-old black teenager from Kensal Green kills a woman he has never met and has nothing to do with? If this is a trend, then I would like to have this discussion out there because it is horrifying.” Sentencing Gayle, Judge Stephen Kramer made it clear there were others who had planned the killing. “It’s been submitted you were an easily led, immature youngster who, if money was involved was capable of violence.” Nevertheless, he said, the teenager had been responsible for what amounted to “an efficient, ruthless and clinical execution”. Crime Drugs Drugs trade Drugs policy Sandra Laville guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Conservatives furious as Liberal Democrat leader says it will take at least six months to go through the bill for a second time A full-scale row erupted at the highest levels of the coalition after Nick Clegg bounced Downing Street and the Department of Health by announcing that the government’s troubled NHS reforms would be delayed by at least six months. As Conservatives backbenchers indicated that they were spoiling for a fight, by laying down a series of “red lines” over the NHS, Tory sources indicated that Clegg had caught them on the hop when he demanded a delay. The deputy prime minister’s unilateral announcement that the two month-long line-by-line committee stage examination of the health and social care bill should be repeated prompted accusations that he was “freelancing”. Nick de Bois, the MP for Enfield North, who set out the “red lines” in an email to fellow MPs leaked to the Guardian, said: “These are premature and inappropriate comments. We are still in the listening exercise. Our coalition partners have had the loudest voices in this debate and I am keen that the Conservative backbenchers have their voice heard so we can highlight our red lines that come from our manifesto.” Senior Lib Dems indicated they believed they had the upper hand. One source said: “The Tories are flustered. Nick has played the politics of this rather shrewdly. If there are going to be substantive changes who can argue with the idea of giving MPs a chance to scrutinise? It will delay the bill by at least a few months.” Clegg told patients and medical professionals at University College London hospital that it would be wrong to force the bill through parliament after the government’s “listening exercise” on the NHS proposals ends next month. “I don’t think it would be right for us to hold this listening exercise – to make big changes to the legislation – and then to seek to bounce it through parliament,” he said. “It is very important that MPs, who represent millions of patients up and down the country, have the opportunity to really look at the details that we are proposing. “I think we will need to send the bill back to committee. I have always said that it is best to take our time to get it right rather than move too fast and risk getting the details wrong.” The deputy prime minister surprised Tory ministers because his remarks were made to the Guardian in a question-and-answer session after a speech in which he buried Andrew Lansley’s 2013 target for the changes by rejecting “arbitrary deadlines”. The speech had been agreed with Downing Street and the Department of Health, which had not approved any mention of sending the bill back to the committee stage. It is understood that Lansley, the health secretary, and David Cameron accept the bill will have to repeat at least some of its committee stage because major amendments will be tabled when the government responds to the Future Forum’s report after the “listening exercise”. But health ministers are expected to say that only parts of the bill need to be reconsidered in this way to ensure that it can complete all its Commons stages by the summer recess. The Lib Dems disagree and say the bill is unlikely to complete its Commons stages by the end of July, raising the prospect that it may not reach the Lords until after the party conference season in the autumn. Clegg indicated after his speech that he favoured a slow pace when he said: “We will introduce substantive, big changes. My desire – I think everyone’s desire – is just to get it right. The NHS is simply too precious, too important to millions of people in this country to rush things and get it wrong.” De Bois made clear that the Tories were determined to preserve key elements of Lansley’s original blueprint. The “red lines” identified by De Bois directly clashed with Clegg over: • The new GP-led commissioning consortiums, which are meant to take control of 65% of the NHS budget. The Tory MP said GPs must take charge of commissioning. Clegg wants to open up membership of the new consortiums. • Lansley’s original 2013 deadline, which Clegg dismissed as “arbitrary”. De Bois said: “Contrary to what is being said in public by others, this is a very reasonable period of time.” • Patients should be able to be “treated at any qualified provider”. Clegg said there would be “no sudden, top-down opening up of all NHS services to any qualified provider”. • Monitor, the health regulator, must be retained to promote patient choice. Clegg said Monitor should be retained but must not “push competition”. De Bois said: “The Conservative party manifesto – on which we were all elected – does the job of setting out some key red lines from which we should not retreat … I am determined that we reclaim the debate over the future of the National Health Service from those who seek to use the bill as a political tool.” John Healey, the shadow health secretary, who tabled a motion on Wednesday calling for the bill to repeat its committee stage, said: “The differences between Clegg and Lansley confirm this is a divided not coalition government. Those divisions are adding more confusion and uncertainty for NHS staff and patients waiting for David Cameron to decide what changes he will make to his NHS plans.” Nick Clegg Conservatives NHS Health Nicholas Watt guardian.co.uk
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Conservatives furious as Liberal Democrat leader says it will take at least six months to go through the bill for a second time A full-scale row erupted at the highest levels of the coalition after Nick Clegg bounced Downing Street and the Department of Health by announcing that the government’s troubled NHS reforms would be delayed by at least six months. As Conservatives backbenchers indicated that they were spoiling for a fight, by laying down a series of “red lines” over the NHS, Tory sources indicated that Clegg had caught them on the hop when he demanded a delay. The deputy prime minister’s unilateral announcement that the two month-long line-by-line committee stage examination of the health and social care bill should be repeated prompted accusations that he was “freelancing”. Nick de Bois, the MP for Enfield North, who set out the “red lines” in an email to fellow MPs leaked to the Guardian, said: “These are premature and inappropriate comments. We are still in the listening exercise. Our coalition partners have had the loudest voices in this debate and I am keen that the Conservative backbenchers have their voice heard so we can highlight our red lines that come from our manifesto.” Senior Lib Dems indicated they believed they had the upper hand. One source said: “The Tories are flustered. Nick has played the politics of this rather shrewdly. If there are going to be substantive changes who can argue with the idea of giving MPs a chance to scrutinise? It will delay the bill by at least a few months.” Clegg told patients and medical professionals at University College London hospital that it would be wrong to force the bill through parliament after the government’s “listening exercise” on the NHS proposals ends next month. “I don’t think it would be right for us to hold this listening exercise – to make big changes to the legislation – and then to seek to bounce it through parliament,” he said. “It is very important that MPs, who represent millions of patients up and down the country, have the opportunity to really look at the details that we are proposing. “I think we will need to send the bill back to committee. I have always said that it is best to take our time to get it right rather than move too fast and risk getting the details wrong.” The deputy prime minister surprised Tory ministers because his remarks were made to the Guardian in a question-and-answer session after a speech in which he buried Andrew Lansley’s 2013 target for the changes by rejecting “arbitrary deadlines”. The speech had been agreed with Downing Street and the Department of Health, which had not approved any mention of sending the bill back to the committee stage. It is understood that Lansley, the health secretary, and David Cameron accept the bill will have to repeat at least some of its committee stage because major amendments will be tabled when the government responds to the Future Forum’s report after the “listening exercise”. But health ministers are expected to say that only parts of the bill need to be reconsidered in this way to ensure that it can complete all its Commons stages by the summer recess. The Lib Dems disagree and say the bill is unlikely to complete its Commons stages by the end of July, raising the prospect that it may not reach the Lords until after the party conference season in the autumn. Clegg indicated after his speech that he favoured a slow pace when he said: “We will introduce substantive, big changes. My desire – I think everyone’s desire – is just to get it right. The NHS is simply too precious, too important to millions of people in this country to rush things and get it wrong.” De Bois made clear that the Tories were determined to preserve key elements of Lansley’s original blueprint. The “red lines” identified by De Bois directly clashed with Clegg over: • The new GP-led commissioning consortiums, which are meant to take control of 65% of the NHS budget. The Tory MP said GPs must take charge of commissioning. Clegg wants to open up membership of the new consortiums. • Lansley’s original 2013 deadline, which Clegg dismissed as “arbitrary”. De Bois said: “Contrary to what is being said in public by others, this is a very reasonable period of time.” • Patients should be able to be “treated at any qualified provider”. Clegg said there would be “no sudden, top-down opening up of all NHS services to any qualified provider”. • Monitor, the health regulator, must be retained to promote patient choice. Clegg said Monitor should be retained but must not “push competition”. De Bois said: “The Conservative party manifesto – on which we were all elected – does the job of setting out some key red lines from which we should not retreat … I am determined that we reclaim the debate over the future of the National Health Service from those who seek to use the bill as a political tool.” John Healey, the shadow health secretary, who tabled a motion on Wednesday calling for the bill to repeat its committee stage, said: “The differences between Clegg and Lansley confirm this is a divided not coalition government. Those divisions are adding more confusion and uncertainty for NHS staff and patients waiting for David Cameron to decide what changes he will make to his NHS plans.” Nick Clegg Conservatives NHS Health Nicholas Watt guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Conservatives furious as Liberal Democrat leader says it will take at least six months to go through the bill for a second time A full-scale row erupted at the highest levels of the coalition after Nick Clegg bounced Downing Street and the Department of Health by announcing that the government’s troubled NHS reforms would be delayed by at least six months. As Conservatives backbenchers indicated that they were spoiling for a fight, by laying down a series of “red lines” over the NHS, Tory sources indicated that Clegg had caught them on the hop when he demanded a delay. The deputy prime minister’s unilateral announcement that the two month-long line-by-line committee stage examination of the health and social care bill should be repeated prompted accusations that he was “freelancing”. Nick de Bois, the MP for Enfield North, who set out the “red lines” in an email to fellow MPs leaked to the Guardian, said: “These are premature and inappropriate comments. We are still in the listening exercise. Our coalition partners have had the loudest voices in this debate and I am keen that the Conservative backbenchers have their voice heard so we can highlight our red lines that come from our manifesto.” Senior Lib Dems indicated they believed they had the upper hand. One source said: “The Tories are flustered. Nick has played the politics of this rather shrewdly. If there are going to be substantive changes who can argue with the idea of giving MPs a chance to scrutinise? It will delay the bill by at least a few months.” Clegg told patients and medical professionals at University College London hospital that it would be wrong to force the bill through parliament after the government’s “listening exercise” on the NHS proposals ends next month. “I don’t think it would be right for us to hold this listening exercise – to make big changes to the legislation – and then to seek to bounce it through parliament,” he said. “It is very important that MPs, who represent millions of patients up and down the country, have the opportunity to really look at the details that we are proposing. “I think we will need to send the bill back to committee. I have always said that it is best to take our time to get it right rather than move too fast and risk getting the details wrong.” The deputy prime minister surprised Tory ministers because his remarks were made to the Guardian in a question-and-answer session after a speech in which he buried Andrew Lansley’s 2013 target for the changes by rejecting “arbitrary deadlines”. The speech had been agreed with Downing Street and the Department of Health, which had not approved any mention of sending the bill back to the committee stage. It is understood that Lansley, the health secretary, and David Cameron accept the bill will have to repeat at least some of its committee stage because major amendments will be tabled when the government responds to the Future Forum’s report after the “listening exercise”. But health ministers are expected to say that only parts of the bill need to be reconsidered in this way to ensure that it can complete all its Commons stages by the summer recess. The Lib Dems disagree and say the bill is unlikely to complete its Commons stages by the end of July, raising the prospect that it may not reach the Lords until after the party conference season in the autumn. Clegg indicated after his speech that he favoured a slow pace when he said: “We will introduce substantive, big changes. My desire – I think everyone’s desire – is just to get it right. The NHS is simply too precious, too important to millions of people in this country to rush things and get it wrong.” De Bois made clear that the Tories were determined to preserve key elements of Lansley’s original blueprint. The “red lines” identified by De Bois directly clashed with Clegg over: • The new GP-led commissioning consortiums, which are meant to take control of 65% of the NHS budget. The Tory MP said GPs must take charge of commissioning. Clegg wants to open up membership of the new consortiums. • Lansley’s original 2013 deadline, which Clegg dismissed as “arbitrary”. De Bois said: “Contrary to what is being said in public by others, this is a very reasonable period of time.” • Patients should be able to be “treated at any qualified provider”. Clegg said there would be “no sudden, top-down opening up of all NHS services to any qualified provider”. • Monitor, the health regulator, must be retained to promote patient choice. Clegg said Monitor should be retained but must not “push competition”. De Bois said: “The Conservative party manifesto – on which we were all elected – does the job of setting out some key red lines from which we should not retreat … I am determined that we reclaim the debate over the future of the National Health Service from those who seek to use the bill as a political tool.” John Healey, the shadow health secretary, who tabled a motion on Wednesday calling for the bill to repeat its committee stage, said: “The differences between Clegg and Lansley confirm this is a divided not coalition government. Those divisions are adding more confusion and uncertainty for NHS staff and patients waiting for David Cameron to decide what changes he will make to his NHS plans.” Nick Clegg Conservatives NHS Health Nicholas Watt guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Conservatives furious as Liberal Democrat leader says it will take at least six months to go through the bill for a second time A full-scale row erupted at the highest levels of the coalition after Nick Clegg bounced Downing Street and the Department of Health by announcing that the government’s troubled NHS reforms would be delayed by at least six months. As Conservatives backbenchers indicated that they were spoiling for a fight, by laying down a series of “red lines” over the NHS, Tory sources indicated that Clegg had caught them on the hop when he demanded a delay. The deputy prime minister’s unilateral announcement that the two month-long line-by-line committee stage examination of the health and social care bill should be repeated prompted accusations that he was “freelancing”. Nick de Bois, the MP for Enfield North, who set out the “red lines” in an email to fellow MPs leaked to the Guardian, said: “These are premature and inappropriate comments. We are still in the listening exercise. Our coalition partners have had the loudest voices in this debate and I am keen that the Conservative backbenchers have their voice heard so we can highlight our red lines that come from our manifesto.” Senior Lib Dems indicated they believed they had the upper hand. One source said: “The Tories are flustered. Nick has played the politics of this rather shrewdly. If there are going to be substantive changes who can argue with the idea of giving MPs a chance to scrutinise? It will delay the bill by at least a few months.” Clegg told patients and medical professionals at University College London hospital that it would be wrong to force the bill through parliament after the government’s “listening exercise” on the NHS proposals ends next month. “I don’t think it would be right for us to hold this listening exercise – to make big changes to the legislation – and then to seek to bounce it through parliament,” he said. “It is very important that MPs, who represent millions of patients up and down the country, have the opportunity to really look at the details that we are proposing. “I think we will need to send the bill back to committee. I have always said that it is best to take our time to get it right rather than move too fast and risk getting the details wrong.” The deputy prime minister surprised Tory ministers because his remarks were made to the Guardian in a question-and-answer session after a speech in which he buried Andrew Lansley’s 2013 target for the changes by rejecting “arbitrary deadlines”. The speech had been agreed with Downing Street and the Department of Health, which had not approved any mention of sending the bill back to the committee stage. It is understood that Lansley, the health secretary, and David Cameron accept the bill will have to repeat at least some of its committee stage because major amendments will be tabled when the government responds to the Future Forum’s report after the “listening exercise”. But health ministers are expected to say that only parts of the bill need to be reconsidered in this way to ensure that it can complete all its Commons stages by the summer recess. The Lib Dems disagree and say the bill is unlikely to complete its Commons stages by the end of July, raising the prospect that it may not reach the Lords until after the party conference season in the autumn. Clegg indicated after his speech that he favoured a slow pace when he said: “We will introduce substantive, big changes. My desire – I think everyone’s desire – is just to get it right. The NHS is simply too precious, too important to millions of people in this country to rush things and get it wrong.” De Bois made clear that the Tories were determined to preserve key elements of Lansley’s original blueprint. The “red lines” identified by De Bois directly clashed with Clegg over: • The new GP-led commissioning consortiums, which are meant to take control of 65% of the NHS budget. The Tory MP said GPs must take charge of commissioning. Clegg wants to open up membership of the new consortiums. • Lansley’s original 2013 deadline, which Clegg dismissed as “arbitrary”. De Bois said: “Contrary to what is being said in public by others, this is a very reasonable period of time.” • Patients should be able to be “treated at any qualified provider”. Clegg said there would be “no sudden, top-down opening up of all NHS services to any qualified provider”. • Monitor, the health regulator, must be retained to promote patient choice. Clegg said Monitor should be retained but must not “push competition”. De Bois said: “The Conservative party manifesto – on which we were all elected – does the job of setting out some key red lines from which we should not retreat … I am determined that we reclaim the debate over the future of the National Health Service from those who seek to use the bill as a political tool.” John Healey, the shadow health secretary, who tabled a motion on Wednesday calling for the bill to repeat its committee stage, said: “The differences between Clegg and Lansley confirm this is a divided not coalition government. Those divisions are adding more confusion and uncertainty for NHS staff and patients waiting for David Cameron to decide what changes he will make to his NHS plans.” Nick Clegg Conservatives NHS Health Nicholas Watt guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Conservatives furious as Liberal Democrat leader says it will take at least six months to go through the bill for a second time A full-scale row erupted at the highest levels of the coalition after Nick Clegg bounced Downing Street and the Department of Health by announcing that the government’s troubled NHS reforms would be delayed by at least six months. As Conservatives backbenchers indicated that they were spoiling for a fight, by laying down a series of “red lines” over the NHS, Tory sources indicated that Clegg had caught them on the hop when he demanded a delay. The deputy prime minister’s unilateral announcement that the two month-long line-by-line committee stage examination of the health and social care bill should be repeated prompted accusations that he was “freelancing”. Nick de Bois, the MP for Enfield North, who set out the “red lines” in an email to fellow MPs leaked to the Guardian, said: “These are premature and inappropriate comments. We are still in the listening exercise. Our coalition partners have had the loudest voices in this debate and I am keen that the Conservative backbenchers have their voice heard so we can highlight our red lines that come from our manifesto.” Senior Lib Dems indicated they believed they had the upper hand. One source said: “The Tories are flustered. Nick has played the politics of this rather shrewdly. If there are going to be substantive changes who can argue with the idea of giving MPs a chance to scrutinise? It will delay the bill by at least a few months.” Clegg told patients and medical professionals at University College London hospital that it would be wrong to force the bill through parliament after the government’s “listening exercise” on the NHS proposals ends next month. “I don’t think it would be right for us to hold this listening exercise – to make big changes to the legislation – and then to seek to bounce it through parliament,” he said. “It is very important that MPs, who represent millions of patients up and down the country, have the opportunity to really look at the details that we are proposing. “I think we will need to send the bill back to committee. I have always said that it is best to take our time to get it right rather than move too fast and risk getting the details wrong.” The deputy prime minister surprised Tory ministers because his remarks were made to the Guardian in a question-and-answer session after a speech in which he buried Andrew Lansley’s 2013 target for the changes by rejecting “arbitrary deadlines”. The speech had been agreed with Downing Street and the Department of Health, which had not approved any mention of sending the bill back to the committee stage. It is understood that Lansley, the health secretary, and David Cameron accept the bill will have to repeat at least some of its committee stage because major amendments will be tabled when the government responds to the Future Forum’s report after the “listening exercise”. But health ministers are expected to say that only parts of the bill need to be reconsidered in this way to ensure that it can complete all its Commons stages by the summer recess. The Lib Dems disagree and say the bill is unlikely to complete its Commons stages by the end of July, raising the prospect that it may not reach the Lords until after the party conference season in the autumn. Clegg indicated after his speech that he favoured a slow pace when he said: “We will introduce substantive, big changes. My desire – I think everyone’s desire – is just to get it right. The NHS is simply too precious, too important to millions of people in this country to rush things and get it wrong.” De Bois made clear that the Tories were determined to preserve key elements of Lansley’s original blueprint. The “red lines” identified by De Bois directly clashed with Clegg over: • The new GP-led commissioning consortiums, which are meant to take control of 65% of the NHS budget. The Tory MP said GPs must take charge of commissioning. Clegg wants to open up membership of the new consortiums. • Lansley’s original 2013 deadline, which Clegg dismissed as “arbitrary”. De Bois said: “Contrary to what is being said in public by others, this is a very reasonable period of time.” • Patients should be able to be “treated at any qualified provider”. Clegg said there would be “no sudden, top-down opening up of all NHS services to any qualified provider”. • Monitor, the health regulator, must be retained to promote patient choice. Clegg said Monitor should be retained but must not “push competition”. De Bois said: “The Conservative party manifesto – on which we were all elected – does the job of setting out some key red lines from which we should not retreat … I am determined that we reclaim the debate over the future of the National Health Service from those who seek to use the bill as a political tool.” John Healey, the shadow health secretary, who tabled a motion on Wednesday calling for the bill to repeat its committee stage, said: “The differences between Clegg and Lansley confirm this is a divided not coalition government. Those divisions are adding more confusion and uncertainty for NHS staff and patients waiting for David Cameron to decide what changes he will make to his NHS plans.” Nick Clegg Conservatives NHS Health Nicholas Watt guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Conservatives furious as Liberal Democrat leader says it will take at least six months to go through the bill for a second time A full-scale row erupted at the highest levels of the coalition after Nick Clegg bounced Downing Street and the Department of Health by announcing that the government’s troubled NHS reforms would be delayed by at least six months. As Conservatives backbenchers indicated that they were spoiling for a fight, by laying down a series of “red lines” over the NHS, Tory sources indicated that Clegg had caught them on the hop when he demanded a delay. The deputy prime minister’s unilateral announcement that the two month-long line-by-line committee stage examination of the health and social care bill should be repeated prompted accusations that he was “freelancing”. Nick de Bois, the MP for Enfield North, who set out the “red lines” in an email to fellow MPs leaked to the Guardian, said: “These are premature and inappropriate comments. We are still in the listening exercise. Our coalition partners have had the loudest voices in this debate and I am keen that the Conservative backbenchers have their voice heard so we can highlight our red lines that come from our manifesto.” Senior Lib Dems indicated they believed they had the upper hand. One source said: “The Tories are flustered. Nick has played the politics of this rather shrewdly. If there are going to be substantive changes who can argue with the idea of giving MPs a chance to scrutinise? It will delay the bill by at least a few months.” Clegg told patients and medical professionals at University College London hospital that it would be wrong to force the bill through parliament after the government’s “listening exercise” on the NHS proposals ends next month. “I don’t think it would be right for us to hold this listening exercise – to make big changes to the legislation – and then to seek to bounce it through parliament,” he said. “It is very important that MPs, who represent millions of patients up and down the country, have the opportunity to really look at the details that we are proposing. “I think we will need to send the bill back to committee. I have always said that it is best to take our time to get it right rather than move too fast and risk getting the details wrong.” The deputy prime minister surprised Tory ministers because his remarks were made to the Guardian in a question-and-answer session after a speech in which he buried Andrew Lansley’s 2013 target for the changes by rejecting “arbitrary deadlines”. The speech had been agreed with Downing Street and the Department of Health, which had not approved any mention of sending the bill back to the committee stage. It is understood that Lansley, the health secretary, and David Cameron accept the bill will have to repeat at least some of its committee stage because major amendments will be tabled when the government responds to the Future Forum’s report after the “listening exercise”. But health ministers are expected to say that only parts of the bill need to be reconsidered in this way to ensure that it can complete all its Commons stages by the summer recess. The Lib Dems disagree and say the bill is unlikely to complete its Commons stages by the end of July, raising the prospect that it may not reach the Lords until after the party conference season in the autumn. Clegg indicated after his speech that he favoured a slow pace when he said: “We will introduce substantive, big changes. My desire – I think everyone’s desire – is just to get it right. The NHS is simply too precious, too important to millions of people in this country to rush things and get it wrong.” De Bois made clear that the Tories were determined to preserve key elements of Lansley’s original blueprint. The “red lines” identified by De Bois directly clashed with Clegg over: • The new GP-led commissioning consortiums, which are meant to take control of 65% of the NHS budget. The Tory MP said GPs must take charge of commissioning. Clegg wants to open up membership of the new consortiums. • Lansley’s original 2013 deadline, which Clegg dismissed as “arbitrary”. De Bois said: “Contrary to what is being said in public by others, this is a very reasonable period of time.” • Patients should be able to be “treated at any qualified provider”. Clegg said there would be “no sudden, top-down opening up of all NHS services to any qualified provider”. • Monitor, the health regulator, must be retained to promote patient choice. Clegg said Monitor should be retained but must not “push competition”. De Bois said: “The Conservative party manifesto – on which we were all elected – does the job of setting out some key red lines from which we should not retreat … I am determined that we reclaim the debate over the future of the National Health Service from those who seek to use the bill as a political tool.” John Healey, the shadow health secretary, who tabled a motion on Wednesday calling for the bill to repeat its committee stage, said: “The differences between Clegg and Lansley confirm this is a divided not coalition government. Those divisions are adding more confusion and uncertainty for NHS staff and patients waiting for David Cameron to decide what changes he will make to his NHS plans.” Nick Clegg Conservatives NHS Health Nicholas Watt guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Conservatives furious as Liberal Democrat leader says it will take at least six months to go through the bill for a second time A full-scale row erupted at the highest levels of the coalition after Nick Clegg bounced Downing Street and the Department of Health by announcing that the government’s troubled NHS reforms would be delayed by at least six months. As Conservatives backbenchers indicated that they were spoiling for a fight, by laying down a series of “red lines” over the NHS, Tory sources indicated that Clegg had caught them on the hop when he demanded a delay. The deputy prime minister’s unilateral announcement that the two month-long line-by-line committee stage examination of the health and social care bill should be repeated prompted accusations that he was “freelancing”. Nick de Bois, the MP for Enfield North, who set out the “red lines” in an email to fellow MPs leaked to the Guardian, said: “These are premature and inappropriate comments. We are still in the listening exercise. Our coalition partners have had the loudest voices in this debate and I am keen that the Conservative backbenchers have their voice heard so we can highlight our red lines that come from our manifesto.” Senior Lib Dems indicated they believed they had the upper hand. One source said: “The Tories are flustered. Nick has played the politics of this rather shrewdly. If there are going to be substantive changes who can argue with the idea of giving MPs a chance to scrutinise? It will delay the bill by at least a few months.” Clegg told patients and medical professionals at University College London hospital that it would be wrong to force the bill through parliament after the government’s “listening exercise” on the NHS proposals ends next month. “I don’t think it would be right for us to hold this listening exercise – to make big changes to the legislation – and then to seek to bounce it through parliament,” he said. “It is very important that MPs, who represent millions of patients up and down the country, have the opportunity to really look at the details that we are proposing. “I think we will need to send the bill back to committee. I have always said that it is best to take our time to get it right rather than move too fast and risk getting the details wrong.” The deputy prime minister surprised Tory ministers because his remarks were made to the Guardian in a question-and-answer session after a speech in which he buried Andrew Lansley’s 2013 target for the changes by rejecting “arbitrary deadlines”. The speech had been agreed with Downing Street and the Department of Health, which had not approved any mention of sending the bill back to the committee stage. It is understood that Lansley, the health secretary, and David Cameron accept the bill will have to repeat at least some of its committee stage because major amendments will be tabled when the government responds to the Future Forum’s report after the “listening exercise”. But health ministers are expected to say that only parts of the bill need to be reconsidered in this way to ensure that it can complete all its Commons stages by the summer recess. The Lib Dems disagree and say the bill is unlikely to complete its Commons stages by the end of July, raising the prospect that it may not reach the Lords until after the party conference season in the autumn. Clegg indicated after his speech that he favoured a slow pace when he said: “We will introduce substantive, big changes. My desire – I think everyone’s desire – is just to get it right. The NHS is simply too precious, too important to millions of people in this country to rush things and get it wrong.” De Bois made clear that the Tories were determined to preserve key elements of Lansley’s original blueprint. The “red lines” identified by De Bois directly clashed with Clegg over: • The new GP-led commissioning consortiums, which are meant to take control of 65% of the NHS budget. The Tory MP said GPs must take charge of commissioning. Clegg wants to open up membership of the new consortiums. • Lansley’s original 2013 deadline, which Clegg dismissed as “arbitrary”. De Bois said: “Contrary to what is being said in public by others, this is a very reasonable period of time.” • Patients should be able to be “treated at any qualified provider”. Clegg said there would be “no sudden, top-down opening up of all NHS services to any qualified provider”. • Monitor, the health regulator, must be retained to promote patient choice. Clegg said Monitor should be retained but must not “push competition”. De Bois said: “The Conservative party manifesto – on which we were all elected – does the job of setting out some key red lines from which we should not retreat … I am determined that we reclaim the debate over the future of the National Health Service from those who seek to use the bill as a political tool.” John Healey, the shadow health secretary, who tabled a motion on Wednesday calling for the bill to repeat its committee stage, said: “The differences between Clegg and Lansley confirm this is a divided not coalition government. Those divisions are adding more confusion and uncertainty for NHS staff and patients waiting for David Cameron to decide what changes he will make to his NHS plans.” Nick Clegg Conservatives NHS Health Nicholas Watt guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Conservatives furious as Liberal Democrat leader says it will take at least six months to go through the bill for a second time A full-scale row erupted at the highest levels of the coalition after Nick Clegg bounced Downing Street and the Department of Health by announcing that the government’s troubled NHS reforms would be delayed by at least six months. As Conservatives backbenchers indicated that they were spoiling for a fight, by laying down a series of “red lines” over the NHS, Tory sources indicated that Clegg had caught them on the hop when he demanded a delay. The deputy prime minister’s unilateral announcement that the two month-long line-by-line committee stage examination of the health and social care bill should be repeated prompted accusations that he was “freelancing”. Nick de Bois, the MP for Enfield North, who set out the “red lines” in an email to fellow MPs leaked to the Guardian, said: “These are premature and inappropriate comments. We are still in the listening exercise. Our coalition partners have had the loudest voices in this debate and I am keen that the Conservative backbenchers have their voice heard so we can highlight our red lines that come from our manifesto.” Senior Lib Dems indicated they believed they had the upper hand. One source said: “The Tories are flustered. Nick has played the politics of this rather shrewdly. If there are going to be substantive changes who can argue with the idea of giving MPs a chance to scrutinise? It will delay the bill by at least a few months.” Clegg told patients and medical professionals at University College London hospital that it would be wrong to force the bill through parliament after the government’s “listening exercise” on the NHS proposals ends next month. “I don’t think it would be right for us to hold this listening exercise – to make big changes to the legislation – and then to seek to bounce it through parliament,” he said. “It is very important that MPs, who represent millions of patients up and down the country, have the opportunity to really look at the details that we are proposing. “I think we will need to send the bill back to committee. I have always said that it is best to take our time to get it right rather than move too fast and risk getting the details wrong.” The deputy prime minister surprised Tory ministers because his remarks were made to the Guardian in a question-and-answer session after a speech in which he buried Andrew Lansley’s 2013 target for the changes by rejecting “arbitrary deadlines”. The speech had been agreed with Downing Street and the Department of Health, which had not approved any mention of sending the bill back to the committee stage. It is understood that Lansley, the health secretary, and David Cameron accept the bill will have to repeat at least some of its committee stage because major amendments will be tabled when the government responds to the Future Forum’s report after the “listening exercise”. But health ministers are expected to say that only parts of the bill need to be reconsidered in this way to ensure that it can complete all its Commons stages by the summer recess. The Lib Dems disagree and say the bill is unlikely to complete its Commons stages by the end of July, raising the prospect that it may not reach the Lords until after the party conference season in the autumn. Clegg indicated after his speech that he favoured a slow pace when he said: “We will introduce substantive, big changes. My desire – I think everyone’s desire – is just to get it right. The NHS is simply too precious, too important to millions of people in this country to rush things and get it wrong.” De Bois made clear that the Tories were determined to preserve key elements of Lansley’s original blueprint. The “red lines” identified by De Bois directly clashed with Clegg over: • The new GP-led commissioning consortiums, which are meant to take control of 65% of the NHS budget. The Tory MP said GPs must take charge of commissioning. Clegg wants to open up membership of the new consortiums. • Lansley’s original 2013 deadline, which Clegg dismissed as “arbitrary”. De Bois said: “Contrary to what is being said in public by others, this is a very reasonable period of time.” • Patients should be able to be “treated at any qualified provider”. Clegg said there would be “no sudden, top-down opening up of all NHS services to any qualified provider”. • Monitor, the health regulator, must be retained to promote patient choice. Clegg said Monitor should be retained but must not “push competition”. De Bois said: “The Conservative party manifesto – on which we were all elected – does the job of setting out some key red lines from which we should not retreat … I am determined that we reclaim the debate over the future of the National Health Service from those who seek to use the bill as a political tool.” John Healey, the shadow health secretary, who tabled a motion on Wednesday calling for the bill to repeat its committee stage, said: “The differences between Clegg and Lansley confirm this is a divided not coalition government. Those divisions are adding more confusion and uncertainty for NHS staff and patients waiting for David Cameron to decide what changes he will make to his NHS plans.” Nick Clegg Conservatives NHS Health Nicholas Watt guardian.co.uk
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