BBC Prophecies of Doom (Again)

It was heartening to hear the Chancellor laying into the BBC this morning for their inevitable pessimism over future plans for the Government finances.  The Chancellor did not have any particular examples to prove his point but, to help him out,  here is my collecting of newspaper headlines from July to October 2010.  I can provide references upon request!

• Plans to transfer control of some NHS funding to GPs may have a "devastating" impact on people with mental health conditions.

•  Yet another reorganisation of the NHS will put a stop to improvements for about 3 years

•  Whatever one says about Labour's NHS reforms, a reduction in waiting times was an iconic achievement that mattered to patients.  The evidence shows that the latest Conservative-Lib Dem reforms will jeopardise this hard-won gain for patient care

• George Osborne's austerity Budget has increased the likelihood of a double-dip recession

•  Defence on the cheap will destroy industry

•  One in three chance of a double-dip recession, says top economist

•  Science Cutback could mean game over

•  Arts squeeze will put us back 20 years

•  Removing troops by 2014 means disaster

•   The safety of the criminal justice system is in jeopardy (resulting in miscarriages of justice an  end to DNA research and development

•  New prisons policy will increase crime

•  Business suffers crisis of confidence about cuts' effect on the economy

•  Cuts will put 500,000 on homes waiting list - More than 500,000 people will be added to social housing waiting lists and nearly 300,000 jobs will go under proposals to  cut the housing budget by up to 40 per cent

•  House prices are set to plunge - again

•  Cabinet revolt over 'blunderbuss' cuts

•  Inflation alert sounded as manufacturing bounces back

•  Gloom gathers as pace of economic growth slows

•  A decision to cut funding for speed cameras will put lives at risk.

•  Glut will hit house prices - rush to sell properties as buyers disappear

•  Hospitals fear downturn will hit cancer targets

•  Dark clouds on horizon as Osborne faces day of reckoning

•  Tube chaos feared as cuts threaten the renewal of pre-war equipment

•   Forecast is gloomy, Bank expert warns. 'Significant risk of a return to recession.'

•  Poor 'hit hardest' by Osborne's budget

•  We can survive a dip but we risk a fatal plunge

•  Government's austerity drive will 'keep economy in doldrums'

•  Coalition plan to privatise Royal Mail provokes fears of strike over pensions

•  Police cuts 'will be Christmas for criminals'

•  Legal Cuts Warning - risk of severe damage to the administration of justice

•  Science cutbacks 'will hit the recovery'

•  Government figure add up to double dip next year, accountant warns

•  A million people are expected to lose their jobs in the next four years as a result of the Government's decision to cut public spending by £83 billion, according to a report today.  Nearly 500,000 jobs are likely to be cut in the private sector as the Government stops building schools, hospitals, and roads and cancels other contracts.  This is on top of about 500,000 job losses in the public sector as employers reduce budgets by a third and lay off civil servants, town hall staff, nurses, teachers and police officers.

Reflecting upon the above the only headline demonstrably true is "removing troops by 2014 (from Afghanistan) means disaster (Daoud Sultanzoy - Afghan MP The Times 19 July 2010).  Those that predicted the decline of the NHS were, of course, right but for the wrong reasons namely a failure of strategic purpose and political will.