We welcome the conversion even if it's a little late

Will Hutton tells us how things must change in this life after coronavirus:

The irrationality of all the institutional and intellectual failures of the last 40 years – excessive administrative and political centralisation,...(...)...We celebrate the NHS but know...(...)...Suddenly, it is obvious to all that a resilient, decentralised public health system, supported by a vibrant network of suppliers, is the cornerstone of a functioning economy and society. Witness Germany....(...)...the measures lack coherence, consistency and, above all, scale.

We have indeed picked and chosen there. But to a purpose, obviously.

The example of Germany is that a thriving ecosystem of private, public, for and not for profit providers of a good or service is the way to have a robust and efficient system.

We agree.

We have been arguing that this is more generally true of the NHS and near everything else done by the state in the provision of goods and services for many decades now. Nice to see Hutton coming around to our point of view.

Except, of course, if we asked directly, well, shall we have more contracting out and devolution down of the decision making level - effectively, the NHS becoming a financing method for health care, not a provider of it - we would be told to stop being ridiculous. For the NHS as is is the Glory of Our Isles, as any fule kno.

It’s a bit of a problem when reasonable analysis gets canned as a result of bumping into a shibboleth, isn’t it?