Government's NHS Coverup

For a party that claims believes in transparency they did a good job of covering up a report about the NHS today, despite having order by the Information Tribunal to publish the report. The report in question is the NHS Risk Register which lists the possible risks to services and medical care from any changes to the NHS, and it was written as  Health Secretary Andrew Lansley's made his plans to radically reform the Health Service.

Some of the risks, contained in the leaked draft version of the Risk Register, were the risks of rising costs of GP care, poorer response to health emergencies and the high chance that managers might lose financial control of the NHS. For this reason it was felt by many that this document should be released so that the public has an idea of the risk the Government are taking in restructuring the NHS with such radical reforms.

The Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said publication was blocked because governments needed a "safe space" to develop policy and he beleieved that the document would be open to "misinterpretation and misuse", however opponents of the move are accusing the Government of a cover up. Claiming they are hiding the risks of the NHS reforms from the general public.

The Information Tribunal, who oversee and adjudicate on freedom of information requests, believe that the public have a right to such information because of the "exceptional" nature of the NHS overhaul. If found that "there is a very strong public interest in transparency and accountability in relation to the risks involved in introducing the NHS reforms,", before going on to argue that it is in public interest to understand and debate the risks involved. The tribunal said it would provided the public "with a far better understanding of the risks to a national institution which millions depended on".

Head of the Royal College of Nursing, Dr Peter Carter, commented that the refusal to publish the risk assessment was "astonishing" and that "Despite overwhelming opposition, the government is undertaking the most radical restructure of the NHS at the same time as the service faces severe financial challenges." and he went on to say that "the public are only being presented with a partial picture of the NHS reforms". While the Labour former spokesman, John Healey called the government's latest move a "desperate act", before adding "This decision will only fuel doubts and distrust about the government's NHS plans, as people rightly ask: 'What are they hiding from us?'"

The Health Secretary Andrew Lansley continues to claim that the government and his department believe in transparency and that he feels that publishing the report could harm the quality of future advice from civil servants, while the oppersition are claiming that the real reason it publication is being blocked is that the public would never forgive them if they could see the scale of risk they are taking with the NHS. Given the massive opposition from the health care professionals across the board, it would seem that the real reason is more likely to be that the risk register backs up their fears about what the reforms will do to the NHS.

My view is the same as Andy Burnham, the Shadow health secretary, who believes it is a  major step backwards in government transparency and is a step towards  to secrecy and closed government, something Conservative governments and councils are rather good at historically, despite all their fine talk. It is clear that it is in the public interest that the risk register should be published, so the public know what could go wrong with the reforms that are now taking place. Not only it will create a healthy public debate but it will allow health professionals, mangers and processional bodies to know the risks of the reforms and flag up problems early so that action can be taken. 

The fact is, in time like these, we need government that the people can trust, that are open and transparent. Moves like this as well as other recent decisions by the government have made make them look every bit as secretive as past Conservative governments who have pursued have a secret agenda laid out by those have the ear of the Minsters and Prime Minster in private. The government are the servants of the people and they would do well to remember that.

Knowledge is Everything

They say knowledge is everything, but it doesn't make you laugh, however that has all changed thanks to the advances of the Internet into society. A communal project called Uncyclopedia which changeless its rivals by giving an alternative view of facts and places where we live.

It gives a satirical view of subjects and places, for example it claims that Leicester's biggest claim to fame is  that it is one of the most difficult place names to spell having won competitions for it. And when talking about tourism it say's:

No-one actually visits Leicester unless they actually live there, most famous place of visit for tourists is Primark which provides job to third world countries and ensures they have fair pay. Primark also ensure that all Leicestarians look the same by providing them with skimpy clothes all priced less than 1p.

Reading the entries does come with a warning, it is not for the political correct movement, that want us to all to become dull and boring. Some of the humour is a bit edgy and sometimes for the more mature audience as this article fragment on the mating rituals of Essex girls shows: 

The mating ritual of this species is very peculiar indeed. It will often meet up with the alpha males in the group, wearing the traditional courting dress. A denim mini skirt/belt will be worn, with a skimpy top (Bra optional) is worn to show the male how well she can survive the blistering weather of England. After the male has chosen the mate, they will impart a hearty feast, consisting of a donor kebab, purchased at 2 in the morning, washed down with a horn of whitelightning cider. After this, they retire to Rollerworld for a mating ritual known as “Spawning an unwanted pregnancy”.

Sometimes the articles are really funny and sometimes they can be dull, it all depends on the writer, I guess, but on the whole I love the idea of a alternative view of life and facts and I can see this eventually becoming a popular site on the internet. It is worth taking a look at if you find yourself with a few minutes to spare.

Britain's Got Talent - Predictions

One of the things that Judges and presenters do these days is to predict who is going to win talent shows and reality television programmes, why this my attempt at doing the same thing.

However before I do that I'm going to reduce the list to the 10 acts that I think will make it through to the final. So here there are:

• Brynolf and Ljung
• Loveable Rogues
• Hope Murphy
• Ashleigh and Pudsey
• Ryan O'Shaughnessy
• Sam Kelly
• Charlotte and Jonathan
• Showbears
• Twist And Pulse Dance Company
• Nu Sxool dance

I'm probably wrong, since I don't know who is in which semi-final and some of the good acts I like are always against each other and there are so many others I have missed out. As for my stab at the winner I going to go for Loveable Rogues for that simple fact I thought they were wonderful.

Britain’s Got Talent - Semi Finalists 2012

Well after six weeks are now at the point of the show when the contestants find out who has made it through to the lives shows and have to get practicing and refining their acts. 

Here is the list of the finalist of this years show, that will be battling it over the next week to make it trough to the final next Saturday night.

• Billy George – Cyr Wheel Performer
• Rachel Knowland – Singer
• Fish on Percussion – aka Michael Fish – Drummer
• Honey Shazad – Singer
• Sam Kelly – Singer
• The Mend – Boy group
• Analiza Ching – Vionlist
• The Showbears – Dancers and singers
• Twist and Pulse Dance Company – Dance troupe
• Callum Oakley – Stand up comic
• Aquabatique – Syncronised swimmers
• Ashleigh and Pudsey – Dancing dog act
• Four Corners – Dance troupe
• The Zimmers – Dancers and singers
• Lucky – Contortionist
• Gatis Kandis – Stand up comic
• The Sugar Dandies – Ballroom dancing duo
• Cascade – French stunt group
• Brynolf & Ljung – Hungarian magician duo
• Hope Murphy – 16-year-old singer
• Zipparah Tafari – Unique rapper aka Mr Zip
• Karizma Krew – Dance troupe
• Ashley Elliot -musician who plays the Xylophone
• Nu Sxool – Dance troupe
• Lazor Harp – aka Grieg Stewart, plays the Lazor harp
• Jive Aces – Band
• Graham Blackledge – Entertainer who plays the organ
• Beatrix von Bourbon – Burlesque dancer
• Malaki Paul – 9-year-old singer
• Strictly Wheels – Ballroom dancing duo
• UWS – aka United We Stand – dance troupe
• Kai & Natalia – Ballroom dancing duo
• Dennis Egel – Wacky German guy
• Martyn Crofts – Dalek impersonator
• Area 51 – Variety dancers
• Chica Latina – Singer
• Face Team – Hungarian Basketball stunt group
• Only Boys Aloud – Welsh choir
• Charlotte Jaconelli and Jonathan Antoine – Opera singing duo
• Loveable Rogues – Boy band
• Be Pop – Girl group
• Lauren Thalia – Young 12-year-old singer
• Paige Turley – Scottish 14-year-old singer
• Molly Rainford – 11-year-old musician

I hope you are still enjoying the show as much as I am. It has been good this year, so much better than last year. I just hope the Semi Finals are just as good as some of the auditions have been and I wish all the acts luck.

Britains Got Talent - Week 7

Tonight was the final week of the audition stage of Britain's Got Talent and after six weeks we will have a list of finalists for the live semi finals where the country will pick the finalists. With a lot to pack in tonights show was rather longer than those of the past and included the results of the final selection process.

On the whole I thought tonights shows was rather rushed. Being the final audition show they just packed to much in and we didn't get the same feel of the acts that we did in the past shows. This made it especially hard to pick the best act of the night, but in the end I going to give that spot to the magic act Brynolf and Ljung. Having said that if you look into the act they are already well known especially in their home country of Sweden and they have already been on ITV, as shown in the clip. As for the other acts there are too many to mention.

What I find strange, is that after when finding a clip for this post, is how well known Brynolf and Ljung are and the fact that they are allowed a spot on the show. Over the course of the series I have discovered that some of the acts, such as the singers, are failed X Factor acts and a like, but this was a greater shock. This is a established act that was already going somewhere. I guess what it shows is that the public don't know the rules show and if more proof were needed it was shown tonight in the when Ryan O'Shaughnessy was told he couldn't be in the finals because he had a contract with the RTE version of the show, "The Voice". Thankfully in the end he found away to be on the show, after he managed to get his contract cancelled.

It has been a great show this year so far be so much better than last year. The talent found is of a higher quality and so much more watchable. I'm sure the talent was there last year, but somehow it got missed. This year they have concentrated on showing and selecting singing and dance acts to the point they end up with too many compared to the other forms of variety acts. We won't really know until the first live show if they got the balance right in the final selection stage.