Member News
By Ned Simons - 2nd November 2010
David Miliband made his Commons return today, less than 24 hours after Gordon Brown made his first speech in the chamber since April.
In contrast to the former prime minister's much trailed appearance, the failed Labour leadership candidate's intervention appeared to catch most people by surprise.
Speaking during health questions, the former shadow foreign secretary also managed to avoid accusations of stepping on the toes of his successor, Yvette Cooper.
Miliband asked ministers a low key question about the future of healthcare provision for the residents of the Cleadon Park Estate in his South Shields constituency.
He said they were "concerned about the consequences of PCT abolition for the PCT-owned, PCT-organised and PCT-financed health centre in my constituency that brings together primary and secondary care, and local authority and community services".
"Isn't there a real danger of the sort of expensive 'anarchy' that Professor Tony Travers of the LSE (London School of Economics) has warned?" he added.
Health secretary Andrew Lansley told him that "the relationship between community healthcare and specialist healthcare in hospitals would be improved by GP-led commissioning".
He added: "The services that they rely upon will be improved by no longer spending so much money on PCT administration."
"You will know in the government of which you were a part, over 10 years the number of managers in the NHS went up by over 60 per cent."
Miliband's last contribution in the Commons chamber was as shadow foreign secretary during Foreign Office questions.
During the session Miliband's fellow leadership candidate turned shadow health minister Diane Abbott made her first outing at departmental questions.
She said the coalition's pledge to protect health spending was "unravelling by the day" and that while she conceded health inequalities had risen under Labour the coalition's spending cuts would make it worse.
But Lib Dem health minister Paul Burstow seized on Abbott's admission and said he expected a growth in employment as predicted by the Office for Budget Responsibility would help stop the gap from growing further.
Article Comments
Fantastic, Labour has returned!
rose
3rd Nov 2010 at 5:56 am
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