War on the BBC There is something particularly unedifying about the Tories' recent attempts to draw the crisis in Iraq into their ongoing battle with the BBC. The question of what we should label the murderous group known variously as Isis, Isil and the Islamic State has been a fraught one for some time, with many Muslims preferring to refer to them by the pejorative term Daesh. However, David Cameron's recent on-air chiding of the corporation for opting to refer to them as the Islamic State fits a pattern of a wider attack on the broadcaster. Headlines in today's papers infering that the BBC's stance somehow placing them as terrorist sympathisers is the lowest point yet in the ongoing battle. Greece also continues to dominate the headlines. Today we carry a compelling eyewitness report from journalist Omaira Gill on how the crisis is affecting the everyday lives of people living in the country. We also report on Jeremy Hunt's latest misguided attempt to reduce NHS spending. His most recent wheeze is to propose printing prices on prescription drugs, in an apparent attempt to shame patients into not wasting them. From next year, all medicines costing the NHS more than £20 will be marked with the cost to the organisation plus the label "funded by taxpayers". While this may encourage some patients not to waste medication it also risks discouraging some patients from taking drugs they have been prescribed. Perversely it also risks persuading some patients that more expensive drugs are somehow 'better' than cheaper and generic alternatives. There is also a question of principle. The NHS was set up in order to provide care to patients, regardless of individual costs. Hunt's new labels disrupts that original principle. |
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