3 mega –statesmen and Adam Price

An extraordinary line-up at a Select Committee tomorrow could launch a new style inquiry into the Iraq War. The Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) will question David Owen, Ming Campbell, Douglas Hurd and Adam Price. They have all called for an Iraq Inquiry.

Three members of PASC rebelled against the government line last week and voted for an immediate war inquiry. In 2005 PASC did an Inquiry into Inquiries. The main recommendation was to set up a new institution  - a Parliamentary Commissions of Inquiry.

Most previous inquiries into past wars and conflicts have been set up and directed by the Governments of the day. This is a new concept of an inquiry that will be directed by Parliament on an all-party basis.
The Committee decided to invite Adam Price because he has been leading the call for an Inquiry. It is not known whether all the witnesses would support the PASC style inquiry. As there is great reluctance to establish a probe until the last British troops are out of Iraq, this initiative could break the logjam and take the decision out of the hands of the Government.

Should be an interesting session.

Clegg-over’s doom.

Nick Clegg was not there but he dominated Prime Minister’s Questions today because of his admission about 30 on his notch.

Steve Pound set the tasteful tone by heckling Lembit Opik, ‘Thirty? Thirty? …to Lembit that’s just a week-end’ We ached for another boast from Nick Clegg’s ‘Hyperbole R Us’ Bumper question Book.
Last week’s claim was that house repossessions were as bad now as they were in 1990. Gordon Brown had the figures, ‘Brown said: "The number of repossessions last year was 27,000. In first two years of the 1990s it was 200,000." Not quite in the league of his stratospheric exaggeration of his first PMPQ when he claimed that ’25,000 people died of cold last winter’. The real figure is about 18.
When the stand-in Lib–Dem boobed with his question bringing the Queen into the political arena by cancelling a royal knees-up, a backbench voice gave a plausible reason. ‘She was trying to keep Clegg away from her grand-daughters.’

Nick Ainger – drug importer

Congratulations to Nick Ainger. For several years he has fought a campaign to bring drugs to a small group of patients who suffer from a rare disease.

To supply medicine to just one of his constituents cost £165,000. The drugs are essential as the disease is life-threatening. NICE was in the target at this morning’s debate but the real culprits are the pharmaceutical companies including GlaxoSmithKline.

The drugs are manufactured in Dartford and are sold at top price here but at a tenth of the price in the USA. Nick said that he had gone into the drugs import business. Details were not available but there is an international market for most drugs on the Internet.

A few years ago I attended a meeting of the Pulmory Hypertension Group and heard a pharmaceutical company confessed that the huge price of the drug had nothing to do with its costs of production. The company had suffered the withdrawal of two other profitable drugs because of fatal adverse reactions. The price of this unique drug for the rare illness was jacked up keep the company solvent!

Everyone at today’s debate begged NICE to approve the drug even at its inflated price. The total cost will be a mere £20 million. What we cannot say with any credibility is that NICE should approve all drugs at whatever greedy costs are imposed by the drugs companies. That would be handing them a further licence to loot the coffers of the NHS and rob other services of cash.

NICE has the right to demand why this drugs cost ten times more in Dartford than in Dallas.

Comments

[Adam]

This important documentary looks at the American leaderships disastrous handling of Iraq, and interview many important people.

Its free to watch on Google Video.

No End in Sight
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=6182969183854471645&q=no+end+in+sight&total=1370&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

Its amazing that every important decision was disastrously stupid. And each time there where important people trying desperately to get Rumsfeld and his henchmen to listen to common sense, but they where simply ignored.

A few examples:

Completely ignoring the extensive plans for occupation that the Pentagon had made. And instead carrying on without a plan.

Ignoring the requests of very senior generals for sufficient troop levels for occupation. These top generals knew what was needed having experience in Yugoslavia. They where simply refused.

Allowing massive looting to go ahead unchallenged, creating lawlessness from the beginning. Despite the political and military leadership in Iraq pleading to let them act.

De- Baathification. Removing everyone, from engineers, civil servants, librarians. Creating chaos and huge unemployment.

Sacking American people who new what they where doing, and instead installing people who didn’t, but where completely loyal to Bush.

Perhaps most catastrophically, disbanding the army. Creating more angry unemployed people who where armed, and then went on to create the insurgency and sectarianism.

I could have done a better job. All on my own!

I swear, Rumsfelds job was to:

Hear what the experts and people where telling him. Ignore that. Do the complete opposite for no good reason instead. Then go on telly and do a stupid comedy routine and tell lies about what is happening. Thats it.

[paul Flynn]

This is powerful evidence that I am sure will be well received by the committee.