A dire political backdrop...is Big Brother watching?

IN THE past few weeks the political news has been rather dire. Not one, but two scandals. First Angela Rayner was forced to resign over unpaid tax on a house purchase, then we had Lord Mandelson sacked as US ambassador after disturbing emails from him to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein were revealed.

- Angus Long

If this wasn't bad enough for the PM, a number of Labour politicians and party members have been supporting a potential challenge to Sir Keir Starmer from Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.

When I was section chairman at the British Healthcare Trades Association (BHTA) I met Mr Burnham when he was Shadow Health Secretary. I found him very astute and his views on how the NHS should be run were very much along my lines and that of the BHTA. Whether he challenges Sir Keir for the leadership we will see in due course.

Two other news stories that attracted my attention are the huge protest march in London and the announcement that the government is to introduce digital ID cards.

The march in London was claimed to be the biggest protest march in UK history, and judging by the photographs it certainly looked huge. I believe the march was attended, on the whole, by hardworking taxpayers who are getting tired of the way things are.

Many elderly people are going to get cold this winter as their fuel allowance is going to be stopped. We have long delays to NHS treatment at hospitals and it can take weeks just to get a GP appointment.