ROBOTIC THERESA

The accelerating impact of robots on our way of life is there for all to see. Why we
even have one running the country. Developed using the latest driverless-car 
technology, it is, of course, female with a nervous laugh and lifelike facial
expressions. Theresa's computer-activated voice is wowing voters up and down
the country with such spellbinding phrases as "strength and stability" and strong
stable family" and "we'll build a better Britain, not just for the privileged few".
You can bet that the Tory manifesto will contain further evidence of Lynton
Crosby's creative genius, in order to convince voters that a landslide is needed
to implement Labour's left-wing manifesto.

Never give a sucker an even break

Vote May with a big majority and you get Corbyn. In this election growth

and wealth creation will be barely mentioned. What will feature will be how the government plans to introduce a death tax on the family home to

fund healthcare for the world and his wife and to maintain Britain's

position as a global superpower for distributing rising levels of foreign aid,

paid for on borrowed money. We live in a socialist country and the choice on June 8 is between paying much higher taxes and much higher taxes. Some will think why bother to work hard and contemplate living abroad. Others will say what is the point of risking starting a business, do as 

millions both here and abroad do and live off benefit and the

forebearance of our creditors. The national debt is running at £1.6 trillion,

equal to our GDP, on which the annual interest is £50-odd billion, more than we spend on defence and education.

8RecommendReply

Human and Financial Cost of Medical Negligence

Sir




Why, given the high number of unnecessary mastectomies performed
by Ian Paterson, did his life-changing surgical interventions did not 
result in earlier action by the two Spire clinics and Heart of England
NHS Trust and suspension by the General Medical Council?

Times article (Comment, April 29) quotes The Kings Fund:"Surgery is not a 
solitary act." In this case it clearly was with the key imperative of the Hippocratic
Oath: "Do no harm", completely ignored. The article goes on to state that
"safe effective surgery is team-based, with accountability and empowerment
distributed across the team".

Instead, events clearly point to a rogue surgeon practising with reckless
arrogance, unconstrained by a complete systemic lack of supervision. Public 
confidence in healthcare professionals is affected. Human misery is compounded
by the fact that, to date, £18 million has been paid to Ian Paterson's victims, part 
of the £56 billion - almost half of the NHS budget - set aside to meet future
claims for medical negligence, at a time of existential crisis. As always, the 
lawyers are main beneficiaries. In 2016 they received £418 million.

Conservative Government in Name Only

Mrs May's refusal to rule out capital gains' tax on high-value homes is a
reminder that we have a Conservative government in name only. The
suggested threshold of £5m would merely be a staging post for 
establishing the principle for taxing primary residences.

If the figure were not indexed, over time, the effect of inflation would be
to push more homes over the threshold and make them liable for tax.
In addition, the government of the day could say that the £5m threshold
was not generating enough revenue to cover accelerating public spending
and reduce it accordingly. The knock-on effect such a move on an already
stagnant housing market, job-mobility and the wider economy can only
be imagined.