Daniel Hannan MEP’s vitriolic comments about the NHS on Fox TV have provoked a torrent of newspaper analysis and commentary. Among the most acute contributions is Peter Wilby’s column in the Guardian identifying the vast power of corporate lobbyists to influence the US policy debate. Lobbying is beginning to corrupt British politics in a similar way and Wilby’s objections are eloquent. This is a valuable lesson in how politics really works. Such lobbying by unaccountable corporate interests threatens our democracy as much as it undermines the principles enshrined in the US constitution.  

On the substantive issue of who has the best healthcare, Hannan AND the British political parties are both wrong.  Sure, the American system neglects the poor and costs too much, but the myth that the NHS provides the world’s best healthcare is a uniquely British conceit that does not travel. France probably does health care best. There the state guarantees care for those who cannot afford insurance and hospitals are run by charities and private companies as well as by government. There are no waiting lists and the cost is roughly comparable to that of our own system. Hardly anybody in France would exchange what they have for our version.  A letter in the Times, by retired NHS accountant Peter Jacques,makes this point well. For a balanced view of the relative merits of assorted national health services this piece , by health economist Zack Cooper for the Huffington Post, offers a good introduction.