How the state lies to you

A fascinating story on the BBC about the failures of the NHS, notable not so much for the way the NHS has covered up its failings so much as the way that such dishonesty is endemic in parts of the state sector.

The headline reads

NHS failings 'suppressed for electoral reasons'

which seems fairly clear. It goes on to say

An independent expert on mortality rates has suggested that ministers have suppressed details of NHS failings to avoid losing votes.
Prof Sir Brian Jarman said a "basic problem" with the NHS was that the government both provided health services and monitored them.

Now I don't know how you read that, but to a simple reader like me, it would appear that this is a failing of current ministers.  But no, although the article does mention Andy Burnham a few times, you have to read down to paragraph 11 before you find that the BBC admits that this was actually a story about suppression of bad performance by ministers in the previous Labour government.

However, not content with misleading us about how much the last Labour government misinformed us about the failings of the state run health system, the Bolshevik Broadcasting Corporation gives its political masters to cover itself with a spin doctor's fig leaf.

Not so, says Andy Burnham, the last government "established independence" by setting up the independent regulator and that "was not the move of a government that wanted to hide".

Which is the least convincing piece of logic I have heard in a long time. Because they set up an independent regulator they can't have suppressed any reports.  Pull the other one. We know that the Care Quality Commission pulled bad reports and we know that they acted under pressure from ministers.

The trouble is that the BBC lets Labour get away with this flimsy thinking, Not surprising when their reporting is so stilted as evidence by the article.