The Guardian

Dear John Carvel, social affairs editor
Dear Alan Rusbridger, Editor
Dear Ian Mayes, Readers' editor

“Doctors say NHS must charge for care“ (John Carvel, The Guardian, 3 April 2006), reads:

“An open letter from 900 NHS doctors to be delivered to Tony Blair today warns that the health service cannot survive in its present form and that individuals should expect to pay for treatment in the future. (...) The letter was drawn up by the pressure group Doctors For Reform, which claims to be politically unaligned.”

The Doctors for Reform’s website reads

“We are supported by the independent non-party think tank Reform whose mission is to set out a better way to deliver public services and economic prosperity.”

The Director and Co-Founder of Reform is Andrew Haldenby, who “was previously Communications Director at Business for Sterling, Director of Studies at the Centre for Policy Studies and Head of the Political Section in the Conservative Research Department.” [Business for Sterling(BfS) is a non-party organisation with a council of about 1,000 business leaders. BfS has a national network of thousands of business supporters with business councils in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and every English region. (Source: Source Watch); the Centre for Policy Studies “was founded by Sir Keith Joseph and Margaret Thatcher in 1974 to champion economic liberalism in Britain and has since played a global role in the dissemination of free market economics. Its policy proposals are based on a set of core principles, including individual choice and responsibility, and the concepts of duty, family, liberty, and the rule of law. It continues to have a vital role as the champion of the Small State” (Source: Centre for Policy Studies’ website); the Conservative Research Department “is an integral part of the central organisation of the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom. It operates alongside the other departments of Conservative Campaign Headquarters at 25 Victoria Street, London SW1.” (Source: Wikipedia) ]

The Consultant Director of Reform is Rupert Darwall, who “is a freelance strategy consultant. He was previously Special Adviser to the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Norman Lamont)” [Lamont served in successive governments under Margaret Thatcher and John Major for a total of 14 years, in the Departments of Energy, Industry, Defence and the Treasury (Source: Wikipedia)]

The Chairman of the Advisory Board of Reform is Sir Christopher Gent, who “is Chairman of GlaxoSmithKIine plc and a non-executive director of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. He was Chief Executive of Vodafone Group plc until August 2003.” [the GlaxoSmithKIine plc website reads: “Headquartered in the UK and with operations based in the US, we are one of the industry leaders, with an estimated seven per cent of the world's pharmaceutical market.”; the Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc website reads: “Lehman Brothers, an innovator in global finance, serves the financial needs of corporations, governments and municipalities, institutional clients, and high net worth individuals worldwide.” ]

Some other members of the Advisory Board of Reform:

- Meg Allen, who “is Director of DRAMLA SA, Geneva.” [DRAMLA SA is a consultancy firm based in Geneva]

- Nick Herbert, who “is the Conservative MP for Arundel & South Downs. He co-founded Reform with Andrew Haldenby.”

- Jonathan Hill, who “is a Director of Quiller Consultants, the leading UK communications group which he founded in 1998. He was Political Secretary to the Prime Minister (John Major) until 1994.”

- Oliver Pawle, who “is Vice Chairman of UBS Investment Bank.”

- Derek Scott, who “is Economic Consultant to KPMG. He was Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister until the end of 2003.”

- Jeremy Sillem, who “was the Chairman of Bear Stearns International Limited, the European arm of the New York based investment bank, until January 2004.”

- Sir Richard Sykes, who “became Rector of Imperial College London in January 2001. He was Chairman of GlaxoSmithKline plc until May 2002.”

Other Reform’s “issues” are:

- CRIME. “Instead of choice and competition, the key principle for reform of policing is accountability. As a mechanism for reform, the police should be made accountable for their performance and expected to introduce active, "zero tolerance" policing. Prison has a vital role to play in deterring and incapacitating criminals and thereby ensuring public safety. Increasing current rates of imprisonment, together with reformed custodial regimes focused on rehabilitation, will aid efforts to cut crime. International evidence, particularly from the US, has shown that together, police and penal reform will help cut crime and keep it down.”

- TRANSPORT. “Part of the solution to Britain's transport problem lies in road pricing. Independent research has shown that the replacement of fuel tax by road pricing would significantly cut congestion. (...) With a more positive use of the private sector, Britain could unlock the investment and innovation that is essential for a safe and reliable network.”

I could go on and on, but I guess you got the picture, dear Mr. John Carvel, social affairs editor. Maybe, when you wrote “The letter was drawn up by the pressure group Doctors For Reform, which claims to be politically unaligned” you could have spent a couple of words to illustrate the link between Reform and Doctors For Reform and the “philosophy” behind. Had you done your job as journalist, I am sure your readers could have had more elements to make up their own minds.

Does the Guardian’s Editor and the Guardian’s Readers’ Editor have anything to say about this peculiar way to “inform” ?

Kind regards,
Gabriele Zamparini