Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

‘We need to be ready for two years of recession’

Alistair Darling says economic growth will return this year. But Alan Johnson, the normally chirpy Health Secretary, tells Fraser Nelson that Britain needs to brace itself

issue 14 February 2009

Opposite Alan Johnson’s desk is a plaque from the Chinese health ministry — a gift that must, at times, seem like a taunt. The Health Secretary controls 1.3 million staff, more than anyone bar the commander of the Red Army. His £120 billion budget is greater than any government department in Beijing.

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