As Dave jets off on another one of his travelling salesman tours, he leaves behind a Downing Street operation in a bit of a flap. There is a growing mood within No. 10 and Whitehall that as the good economic news keeps coming, with the recovery strengthening, the government’s self-proclaimed central purpose will slip down the agenda. Instead of talking about the economy, the next couple of years will focus on other issues and problems. The NHS, Universal Credit and Romanian/Bulgarian immigration are causing the most sleepless nights. 

Sources claim Craig Oliver is particularly concerned about the NHS and a bucket of bad news set to come down the line. Crisis talks have been held between the Department of Health, No. 10 and the Cabinet Office. When Department of Health officials were asked when the good news from the NHS reforms would start to trickle through, the reply was “never”. Winter is coming, one SpAd tells Guido the Tories are ‘crippled with fear’. If it is a cold winter, high energy prices, poverty and the NHS will come together as a perfect storm, with higher senior citizen mortality…