In an astonishing political move for any Minister, let alone one who presided over some of the worst NHS scandals in living memory, Andy Burnham has decided the best way to silence critics of his time as Labour Health Secretary is to threaten them with legal action. Yes, this is the same person who ran a department which, according to allegations published in The Sun on Sunday, purchased 18 bottles of champagne on the day grieving families launched a national campaign in memory of Mid Staffs victims.
The move raises the prospect of the Labour Party and Andy Burnham launching similar attacks on victims groups who criticised his role as Secretary of State for Health and could set a chilling precedent for democratic debate in the UK. This move is despite emails released by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) watchdog under FOI laws showed that clearly the Department of Health under Labour tried to stop details emerging of a hospital scandal involving higher-than-normal death rates.
Under Ed Miliband’s leadership, it appears that Labour have a new policy to criticism – to sue or to threaten anyone who disagrees with them. As many victims of Andy Burnham’s appalling management of the National Health Service will agree, Britain can do better than this.
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