From Hansard, the text of Wednesday's statement. (Thank you to all who produce Hansard: it's a jewel.)

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When I launched Health Policy Insight in 2008, four years ago (and let's face it, you get less than four years for manslaughter these days), it seemed clear that the financial crisis was likely to screw things up for public sector spending.

It wasn't certain, but it was likely.

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I was intrigued by this story in the Financial Times about Peterborough and Stamford FT's PFI problem.

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Mr Lansley opened his speech by mentioning a text message he received from a friend living in France during the passage of the Bill. The message quoted the philosopher Schopenhauer: "all truth is ridiculed, then violently opposed, then accepted as self-evident".

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Click here for details of 'The Tao of Andrew Lansley', the new issue of subscription-based Health Policy Intelligence.

We reported last night on the story of Health Secretary Andrew Lansley putting South London Healthcare Trust into impending administration-type special measures.

If Health Policy Insight were less tirelessly charitable about the government of the day than we are, we might remark on what a relief it is that the old ways of top-down command-and-control are behind us.

We are not such cynics, thank goodness.

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Holy shit.

We knew there was a major problem, but the FT's revelation that Health Secretary Andrew Lansley (saviour, liberator) has put South London Healthcare Trust into effective administration is a big story by anybody's lights.

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The NHS is doing very well indeed.

The latest referral to treatment waiting time figures released by the DH show that the progress on very long waiters continues to improve.

The the numbers on waiting list who have been waiting over 18, 26, 39 and 52 weeks are all at record lows.

Comrade Sir David Nicholson was described as the Anneka Rice of the Health Service by chair Cathy Newman.

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Click here for details of 'The Tao of Andrew Lansley', the new issue of subscription-based Health Policy Intelligence.

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Chairman Mal - Professor Malcolm Grant of the NHS Commissioning Board - opens with Cathy Newman joke about shaving his moustache off for £2000 for Comic Relief.

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Click here for details of 'The Tao of Andrew Lansley', the new issue of subscription-based Health Policy Intelligence.

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Andrew Lansley's speech to the NHS Confederation today was, unexpectedly, very funny.

Albeit not intentionally.

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Click here for details of 'The Tao of Andrew Lansley', the new issue of subscription-based Health Policy Intelligence.

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