Totalitarianism and concealment of issues

The Health and Social Care Bill in its first draft included sinister powers to block and criminalise independent scrutiny of the NHS.

Successive Governments have influenced Government scientists to suppress inconvenient research, or to condone using the absence of conclusive scientific evidence that a food or a treatment or a vaccine is dangerous as a fallaceous argument that it is safe rather than as an indicator of uncertainty needing research to establish the truth with greater clarity. Unsurprisingly Government assurances that anything is safe are worthless unless they are independently corroborated.

The relevant clause was modified in Parliament, initially to exclude from its provisions publication of information not "for commercial purposes" and then also to exclude commercial data collection. The purpose of Sections 60 and 61 of the Act is now unclear. It may only be to safeguard epidemiological data collection from technical breaches of the Data Protection Act. Parliament will need to scrutinise the regulations (which will need to be renewed annually) to ensure that they are not sinister in effect.

The Health Service also conceals issues at local level. It is commonplace for consultants to be suspended as a form of intimidation to cover up wrong-doing.