Latest developments in Birmingham have the beleaguered Labour-run council getting let off the hook by central government. It’s not just the rape gang inquiries that are being quietly dropped…
Back in April last year Michael Gove announced a statutory inquiry under the Local Government Act into the council’s financial mismanagement, including failing to roll out an IT system in a debacle that auditors said would set taxpayers back “at least £90 million in excess of the original budget.“ Labour thinks that’s not worth it anymore…
LocalGov reports that “Angela Rayner has dropped government plans for a statutory inquiry that would have investigated Labour-run Birmingham City Council’s failed rollout of an IT system… a council insider confirmed this would no longer go ahead.“ Under the carpet it goes – along with the bins…
Speaking on Times Radio, former Home Secretary David Blunkett spoke about overdiagnosis of mental problems:
“Let’s distinguish those who are really severely mentally ill, diagnosed with things that require prolonged medical and diagnostic treatment. My wife and I talk about this a lot, because she’s a retired GP, about the fact that you can be sad without being ill. You can be momentarily depressed because your boyfriend or girlfriend’s just thrown you and you’re not mentally ill. You can even have mild issues, which can be dealt with with the right kind of support, but it doesn’t make you mentally ill. So we’ve got a real task, I think, to get the psychology, if you like, of this over. But there are things where you definitely need medical intervention, and there are other things where you need good friends, you need good connectivity, and you need a job.”