If I had relied on the NHS, I would be dead now

[LGDT]

Nhs

There seems to be a failure here to understand basic economics. When goods or services are offered free at the point of delivery then demand will always expand to fill capacity.

And therefore there has to be some form of rationing.

Unfortunately we live in a country where a free NHS has become a kind of religion that only right wing nutters can possibly object to.

The fact that only us, Cuba and North Korea offer such a service seems to escape the NHS addicts.

Even those European paragons of social democratic virtue - France, Germany, Sweden etc have some form of social insurance to top up the free service. And guess what? - no waiting lists, decent hospitals and a service attuned to the consumers and not the producer interests that control it here.

Privatise the bloody thing and have done with it.

[steve'O]

Whats National Insurance contributions then??

[threaded]

She should have let the man drive then there wouldn't have been a problem...

Harsh, but fair.

[threaded]

Whats National Insurance contributions then??

Just another form of tax.

[LGDT]

nhs

Whats National Insurance contributions then??

Ah - a poor innocent that thinks national insurance is hypothecated against the NHS.

It actually all goes into the same pot as general taxation known as the Consolidated Fund. From there it's used to fund all kinds of government frippery.

National Insurance is the most dishonest tax going - but it's useful for conning the chavs into believing it funds their beloved NHS.

[ASB]

Not quite

Ah - a poor innocent that thinks national insurance is hypothecated against the NHS.

It actually all goes into the same pot as general taxation known as the Consolidated Fund. From there it's used to fund all kinds of government frippery.

National Insurance is the most dishonest tax going - but it's useful for conning the chavs into believing it funds their beloved NHS.

There is actually a direct link between NI and NHS funding - can't find the details though.

A speciified percentage of NI is specifically ring fenced. ISTR it's 1% (of the amount collected). Obviously this is diddly squat in terms of total funding but it does mean that a chanceller can keep a straight face when he says "and this rise goes towards funding better healthcare for all".

[OwlHoot]

She should have let the man drive then there wouldn't have been a problem...

Seems a man _was_ driving! From Martha: the crash that nearly killed me :

After years of all work and no play she had also found romance. In May 2004 she went on a short break to Morocco with her boyfriend of six weeks, Chris Gorell Barnes. The couple were travelling in a jeep with Gorell Barnes’s best friend Duncan Flower, who was driving, when they crashed near the resort of Essaouira.