Robert Fisk (right) isn’t convinced Keir Starmer is up to the job (Image: PA/Daily Express)
Keir Starmer strode into Downing Street as Prime Minister exactly 76 years to the day that the NHS was founded and, shortly after, announced that it was “broken”.
What he didn’t announce was that he was going to adopt the doctrine of “free at the point of use” and apply it to his trousers, shirts and suit jackets.
And, just a few years after was briefly embroiled in a “Shoebacca row”, she too has had some of her clothes paid for.
Trying to excuse their behaviour, their colleagues on the media rounds have been advised that the public will buy the excuse that “politics is partly about appearance”.
That is true. But an expensive suit worn badly isn’t worth the money as it cheapens the wearer. And with the salaries that the Cabinet get it is absolutely outrageous that they think it’s okay to accept such gifts instead of paying for their own threads.
In the cut-throat world of politics no-one gives something without expecting something back so I’m wondering what Lord Alli’s motive is in making such a donation.
Can it really be as simple as seeing in a photo of world leaders and thinking to himself “Doesn’t he look smart?”
I’m not convinced, but if he had really wanted to do something to benefit society he should have donated that money to a charity like Barnardo’s, to help its workers continue to help vulnerable children across the UK.
Or NHS Charities Together, as surely it should be Labour’s aim to ensure the NHS exists for future generations.
I say “should be” because, as someone with incurable bowel cancer, I don’t think has even made a start on how he’s going to fix the so-called “broken NHS” in the almost-first 100 days of being in power.
If he doesn’t turn his attention to it soon, and actually start to bring about some of the changes he’s promised the country, he will be lucky to survive to 200 days of being the PM.
Once the dust settles from the clothing row, people who voted for change will wonder what Labour has actually achieved.
He did commission Lord Darzi to write a report into the state of the NHS.
But publishing a report is worth nothing if it isn’t immediately followed by an action plan of what will be done, and by when.
This week I have six hospital appointments at two separate NHS trusts spread over four days and they will all be staffed by passionate people who believe in the NHS and don’t believe it is fully “broken”.
But, if asked, they’d agree with me that it’s ridiculous that NHS trusts don’t have details of the treatment patients are undergoing at other trusts, even when their doctors did the referral.
Instead I’ll have to have another appointment at the first hospital to let my medical team know what happened at the other one.
And hopefully they would agree that situations like mine, where I’ve been waiting three months to find out if radiotherapy will be good for me and it seems to just be because medical teams aren’t very good at responding to emails, are ridiculous.
If and his freebie chums opened their eyes to situations like this in the NHS, he’d realise that the health service isn’t broken. It just needs a lot of tweaking.
The sad situation is though that I really doubt that he and Wes Streeting are the best people for the job.