A healthy policy development

Tory health policy is often criticised for not being radical enough. But Andrew Lansley’s announcement last week that the Tories would encourage John-Lewis style employee ownership and provision of services in the NHS is to be hugely welcomed. The scheme would cover outpatient clinics, health visitors and community nurses among others.

The idea is what Phillip Blond, the Red Tory guru, argued for in The Ownership State. Blond’s aim is a “breakup of monolithic state provision by employee driven buyouts to form social enterprises making better use of public money by creating an organisation owned by its providers and users.”

Mutualism is a politically attractive idea that actually works. Expect to see Labour and the Tories battling for ownership of it in the coming months.