NHS political football, half-time report: Crosby and warnings ignored

Labour and the Tories played the first half of NHS political football this morning at health questions. The scrap began with Opposition MPs asking what influence Lynton Crosby had over the decision to drop plain packaging for cigarettes. It is their equivalent of the Tory attack on union influence, and as such has a fair bit of clout. The first question came from Labour’s Cathy Jamieson, who asked:

‘Given some of the previous pronouncements by the Public Health Minister I think some of us could be forgiven for thinking that the government’s policy has changed in relation to this. And I wonder therefore if she could advise the House, who overruled her support for this policy? Was it the Prime Minister? Was it the Health Secretary? Or was it Lynton Crosby?’

Ian Austin had a go too. ‘We are not in the pockets of anybody!’ exclaimed Soubry, adding that she hoped Austin could say he wasn’t in the pockets of any trade union either.