Again today there has been an announcement of personnel cuts in an NHS hospital. Over the last few years, more money than ever before has been poured into the NHS. There have been considerable increases in salaries but even so, what has happened to bring about this state of affairs?

It is not that long ago that Gordon Brown was proposing to cut civil service jobs. Instead we have had increases in administrative staff in Whitehall and the NHS, and now we are going to lose productive hospital staff. All this is against a background of massive tax increases.

Why do we swallow the idea propogated by Gordon himself that he is a prudent iron chancellor?