Liberal Democrats went into government for the good of the country, but coalitions always mean compromise and we cannot always get what we want. Having “clean hands” is no doubt an attraction, but it is often impossible in the real world.

There are many within the Liberal Democrats who have concerns about some aspects of Government policy. Personally I have real problems with the references to competition within the Health Bill which incidentally were brought in by the last Labour Government and are being further championed by the Tories within the Coalition.

However there are many aspects of the Bill which are worthy of support. In particular those aspects around Public Health so, unlike Labour I’m not in favour of chucking the baby out with the bath water and ditching the Bill in its entirety.

I do support the work being done within the Party to fight for changes within the Bill to rid it of the competition chapter and will do all in my power to keep the NHS a truly National Health Service.