Last week I posted on the necessity for the Labour opposition to construct a set of medium to long term policies for the NHS which would clearly see them work with it over a period of time that I think of as ‘the long austerity’.

I received a number of comments from people who felt that the reforms in which as special adviser to Alan Milburn, John Reid and Tony Blair I was involved from 2001 – 2007 had laid the ground for the current reforms and that I should take some of the blame for the current Government.