One of the great things about CentreRight is the platform it provides for frank discussion of the failings of parties on the right, as well as their successes. Such discussion is needed today.
The Government announced yesterday that it will continue to build the Summary Care Record database of our medical data.
1) This contradicts the Conservative position outlined last year: "A Conservative government would "dismantle" central NHS IT infrastructure, halt and renegotiate NPfIT local service provider contracts and introduce interoperable local systems."
2) It contradicts the Liberal Democrat position outlined this year, "The Government needs to end its obsession with massive central databases. The NHS IT scheme has been a disastrous waste of money and the national programme should be abandoned."
This is a disgraceful u-turn. The Coalition wants us to believe that they are serious about privacy and civil liberties – this is their first real test, and they have failed it.
The Summary Care Record is an unnecessary and intrusive piece of bureaucracy, as well as being wildly expensive. Doctors have managed without it until now. Big Brother Watch research has shown how vulnerable the NHS is to breaches of privacy – I'm afraid that this will make things much worse.
And whatever you think of the policy, the way that it was "announced" is appalling: by brief Written Answer, without debate, on the day of the statement made to the House on the Cumbrian shooting, so it didn't get picked up anywhere. Jo Moore redux.