Liberal Democrats reject health reforms
Posted: 12 Mar 2011, 21:40
See also: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/83781 ... forms.htmlThe Guardian - 12/03/11
Nick Clegg suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of his own party as Liberal Democrat activists voted overwhelmingly against coalition plans for a radical overhaul of the NHS.
Delegates rejected the "damaging and unjustified market-based approach" being championed by the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, as anger over the Tory-led NHS agenda boiled over at the party's spring conference in Sheffield.
The Lib Dem leadership had gone into the session backing a motion unreservedly supportive of the Lansley approach – only to see the grassroots insert changes that would undermine the basic principles behind it.
After the crushing defeat, Clegg immediately faced demands from former education secretary Shirley Williams that he take the message back to the cabinet and demand that Lansley change the NHS bill to conform with Lib Dem demands.
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