Author Archives: GovWorldMag

Sharon Hodgson MP, Shadow Minister for Public Health, commenting on the Scottish Medicines Consortium’s decision to provide Kadcyla and PrEP on the NHS, said:

“It is welcoming to see that both Kadcyla and PrEP will now be funded by the NHS in Scotland, after the concerted campaigning of different organisations and individuals who will benefit directly by these drugs now being made accessible. 

“These decisions are game-changing. Not only in the fact that they will help the many people in Scotland who rely upon these drugs, but also by highlighting a failure to act here in England, where Kadcyla has been provisionally rejected by NICE and is now under review and PrEP, which faced a long, drawn-out court battle, is going through yet another trial.

“These announcements must make NHS England and Jeremy Hunt sit up and listen. We need concerted action to ensure we don’t see disparities in the drug treatments on offer in Scotland and England. The Tory Government should be doing all they can to provide access to these treatments for those who need them.”

Libor rigging – schools, hospitals, local councils all potential victims – Shadow Chancellor demands compensation for public bodies

Local councils, NHS hospitals and schools engaged with PFI contracts, derivatives linked to Libor and day-to-day borrowing could be large scale victims of Libor rigging.

Yesterday, Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell MP, called for the Chancellor to establish a public inquiry into the scandal. He is today demanding an independent assessment of the losses to public bodies and that where losses are identified as a result of Libor rigging, they must be made good by the banks.

Revelations by the BBC’s Panorama programme concerning the involvement of the Bank of England and senior officials from major banks in the rigging of the Libor index raise urgent questions for the Bank of England and the Government:

– Did senior Bank of England officials, in allegedly applying pressure to banks to lowball their reported borrowing rates, act with or without the knowledge of Treasury officials and ministers?
– Was the Bank or Treasury aware of the potential costs to public authorities as a result of lowballing?
– How many public bodies have losses arising from their purchase of Libor-linked derivative products, and what are the scale of those losses?

John McDonnell MP said:

“This is now a matter of utmost concern that gets to the heart of failings in our banking system. Did senior officials at the Bank of England, with or without government encouragement, knowingly cause public bodies like NHS hospitals, schools and local councils to suffer potentially major losses?

“My concern is that local councils, NHS hospitals, and schools could have paid a huge cost for the Libor rigging scandal. We need to know exactly what went on, what was the impact on public finances and who was responsible. Above all else if local councils and other public bodies suffered losses then the institutions responsible should pay them back for those losses.”

Peter Dowd MP, Labour’s Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, responding to today’s inflation figures, said:

“Today’s inflation figures are yet more worrying news for working people.

“Living standards are being squeezed, with inflation rising and wage growth slowing. As a result, real pay is beginning to decline again, contracting at the start of 2017 for the first time since August 2014.

“Only Labour will ensure working people’s living standards are protected. That’s why this week Labour is announcing a real Living Wage of £10 per hour from 2020.”