New Events Listed

The full ModernGov event catalogue is now viewable on our Events and Courses page. Be sure to mention us if you fancy going along.

In good health?

Anotehr year, another 'shake-up' at the NHS. This time everything will be different of course, with Gordon promising "an even more profound effect" than that seen during any of the previous six Labour 'shake-ups'.

Although Lord Darzi's draft constitution largely places emphasis on quality over quantity in most aspects of clinical care, it still pushes through the polyclinic plan - medical centres open from 8am 'til 8pm where any Tom, Dick or Harry can drop in for treatment.

Having recently been to one of these in London and left totally misdiagnosed, I'd have thought there's a good chance the BMA and others will still have plenty to say about that.

Tories win Henley by four lengths

No surprises in Henley, as the leafy Oxfordshire constituency handed the Conservatives a romping by-election victory considered such a foregone conclusion by most of the national press that they didn't bother to report on it until today.

It was not even surprising that the Labour vote languished in fifth place - there were never likely to be many sympathy votes in the white gravel drives and twin-sets by the Thames. What was most alarming was not that Labour was beaten hollow by its two main competitors and the Greens, but that it was beaten by the BNP.

When the governing party is outperformed by a group of racist thugs, alarm bells should be ringing all over the country...

Bergmans under fire

Yesterday the Indy broke an 'expose' story on a Westminster minister arms lobbyist - specifically Robin Ashby of Bergmans.

The story is, even to someone unsympathetic towards lobbyists, pretty woolly. Littered with quotation marks in the 'look at me - I've got real evidence' style, the most damning accusations laid at Mr Ashby's door are;

a) he has a Westminster pass
b) he regularly meets high-profile defence ministers and officials
c) he occasionally says indiscreet things like "We'll ask the questions that you can't, without your fingerprints."

In short, the Independent piece is really a rather generous piece of free advertising for Bergmans' services.

It is a story that should make lobbyists think however, because Ashby is not the only one with both easy access to Parliament and the kind of mixed motives that can look rather dodgy (and sometimes are). Public and media trust in politicians is rcok-bottom, trust in those willing to spend time in their company is non-existent.

Party time

The PubAffairs Summer party is on tonight at the Barley Mow on Horseferry Road, sponsored by the generous people at Insight PA and Total Politics. Good luck to those going - hanging round a big group of semi-drunk lobbyists is not everyone's idea of a good time.

Sources close to the sponsor suggest that these gatherings are becoming increasingly dominated by the Tory Boy brigade. Well, when in Rome...

Gone far enough?

The EU, always an institution to do things by halves if it can, has been rather defensive in response to criticisms of its new lobbyist register. In theory, the register helps "citizens know which general or specific interests are influencing the decision-making process of the European Institutions and the resources mobilized to that end." Who's paying who, essentially.

Unfortunately, this bold shuffle towards transparency has been widely rubbished by media and MEPs alike. The Greens in particular are not very pleased at what they see as a rather wet token gesture. Presumably this is because no-one is slipping them anything.

For its part the EU defended the scheme, saying that things had got off to "a good start". Good enough to extend the register scheme beyond its one year trial period? We'll see...

Welcome

Welcome to the PA Links blog. We'll be posting bits and pieces up here from time to time - vacancies, the odd press release, and if you're lucky some industry gossip as well.

Enjoy!