“Too few politicians in Britain have any idea what life is like for people living on benefits, the former head of the Civil Service has warned, criticising ministers who send their children to public schools and have private health care rather than use the NHS. In an outspoken attack Lord (Gus) O’Donnell said there were still “too many people in politics who just don’t get it” and called for political parties to select candidates using open primaries to broaden representation in Parliament.

And he criticised the “few” Government ministers who, he said, still did not use the public services they were in charge of delivering.

…“There are unfortunately too many people in politics who just don’t get it; who just don’t understand what life on benefits would be like,” he said. Recalling his time as press secretary to Sir John Major, Lord O’Donnell said Sir John repeatedly emphasised that “we need to really care about public services”, but was often met with opposition from ministers who would ask: “Why should we bother about that? Our people don’t use them.”

“Many badly run organisations tend towards what can be termed the “North Korean” school of management; a culture of secrecy, with as little information as possible allowed out, and a generally hostile attitude towards anyone from outside questioning the prevailing culture.”

So runs the first paragraph in today’s editorial in the The Independent …

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/editorials/a-medical-horror-story-the-failures-at-morecambe-bay-are-shocking-and-must-never-happen-again-but-the-nhs-can-be-restored-to-health-10083710.html?origin=internalSearch