When David Cameron first addressed Parliament on the Francis Report, he told MPs that he didn’t want to seek scapegoats. Some of his MPs were disappointed that the Tory leadership wasn’t going after Andy Burnham or Sir David Nicholson. Well, the latter has left, and the former is looking vulnerable in a forthcoming Labour reshuffle, and for months the gloves have been off. After gaining access to a dossier of emails suggesting that Labour tried to stop the Care Quality Commission informing the public about failings at Basildon Hospital, Tory MP Stephen Barclay, who has been digging away on this for months, has called for Burnham to resign. He said:
‘Labour tried to cover up failing hospitals before the last General Election. Andy Burnham told the House of Commons in July there was no shred of evidence of political interference with the health regulator.
‘But these emails show a clear paper trail of political meddling – leading back to him.
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