Politics

Is anyone happy with the latest maternity safety report, published by Baroness Amos today? The former UN diplomat says the standard of care that she has found so far in the NHS has been ‘much worse’ than she’d anticipated. This is quite striking, given the appalling findings of the many reviews that have already taken place into failings in maternity units across England. You might expect this review to merely have confirmed what has already been uncovered. From grooming gangs to maternity safety to unsafe housing, the intrays of Whitehall are groaning under ‘recommendations’ But many campaigners have responded to Amos’s interim report with a weariness and frustration. Victims of

‘Nothing prepared me,’ said Baroness Amos as she released her ‘reflections and initial impressions’ about England’s maternity and neonatal services, ‘for the scale of unacceptable care that women and families have received, and continue to receive, the tragic consequences for their babies, and the impact on their mental, physical and emotional wellbeing.’ Amos’s words today paint a bleak picture of English maternity services, staffed by people who often don’t care, don’t listen, and deliver worse outcomes for the working class and people who aren’t white. It’s a picture that many parents – including myself – recognise. But is it right to suggest that black mums are being discriminated by the

December is a time for spirits aplenty. But has the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come visited early this year? Over in Cardiff Bay, it seems that a deal has been struck to pass a budget in the Welsh parliament. After a humiliating thumping in the Caerphilly by-election, the incumbent Labour government currently lacks a majority to push through its legislation. But now Plaid Cymru has ridden to the rescue. The two sides are believed to have sketched out an agreement, which should mean Labour avoids a defeat when their spending plans are put to a vote in January. This is a likely precursor to what we can expect next