Dr Laurence Chacksfield

NHS Doctor. Part of #TeamGP. Paddleboarder. Ex-politico. Massive Geek. Amateur Programmer. Happiest with data sets. Fanatical about coffee

[Dr Laurence Chacksfield @chacksfield]

It’s Alice in Wonderland economics to attempt to cap UK food prices.

I’m sure we would much rather the government focuses on the bigger cost of living issues.

[Kien Tan @kientan74]

@julianHjessop ...and it's not as if UK food is expensive in the first place. We spend less on food as a % of household spend and less in absolute terms than most of the rest of Europe.
If the govt is worried about the cost-of-living, there are much bigger costs to address (housing, energy...)

[Dr Laurence Chacksfield @chacksfield]

@kientan74 @julianHjessop But of course: lowering the cost of energy and housing would force the government to make decisions re: housing supply and Net Zero that are anathema to the base.

Hammering supermarkets is so much easier.

[Paul Johnson @PJTheEconomist]

Almost certainly true. We had an amazing deal. In the club, in single market, in customs union but no Schengen, no Euro, budget rebate, various other opt outs. We still left. No chance of rejoining on same terms.

[Michael Crick @MichaelLCrick]

In two to three years time, when Starmer and his government are no doubt deeply unpopular, I hope we in the media will ask ourselves: "Why were we so supine during the long 2024 election; why didn't we hold Labour properly to account while we could, and ask more probing questions, and explore their records, rather than give them such an easy ride?".

[WhoRemembersPod @whorememberspod]

Election day today, so great excuse to post the greatest campaign video of all time

[Tim Shipman @ShippersUnbound]

This is 100% my view as well

[Tom Harwood @tomhfh]

oh my god.

[Valerie (Val) Humphreys @valhumphreys51]

@DHSCgovuk Stop misleading patients.
I trust my GP. If she thinks I need a referral, I do. She doesn’t need to consult anyone other than me about it

[Daniel Hannan @DanielJHannan]

Some basics about Chagos for BBC reporters, Sky anchors and others coming new to the debate.
1. The Chagos Islands lie half-way between Africa and Indonesia, and host a key Anglo-American military base on the main island, Diego Garcia
2. France ceded the archipelago to Britain in 1814 separately from Mauritius; the islands were always a distinct territory, though, lacking suitable facilities, their administration was sited in Mauritius
3. To put the issue beyond doubt, Mauritius permanently renounced any claim to the islands in 1965 in return for a cash payment from Britain
4. It eagerly trousered the money, its first post-independence PM, Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, explaining that he had been glad to sell any theoretical right to “territory of which very few people knew, which is very far from here, and which we had never visited”
5. Mauritius is indeed 1337 miles from the islands, and began to press its claim again only when it grew closer to China in the early 2000s
6. The barrister it hired was Philippe Sands, a co-founder of Matrix Chambers and a close friend of Keir Starmer’s, who has always been cagey about what conversations they have had about Chagos
7. Far from providing a mandate for the deal, the Labour manifesto explicitly promised the opposite (see graphic)
8. Starmer justifies the surrender by pointing to a non-binding resolution by a UN court, which included a Russian and a Chinese judge, and whose jurisdiction had been expressly denied in disputes between Commonwealth or former Commonwealth states
9. In November, a different UN body issued another non-binding resolution, this one ordering the transfer to be halted, but Labour did not change direction
10. The party may have a guilty conscience, for it was Harold Wilson’s government that removed the 1800-odd inhabitants from the islands after 1968 to make room for the base
11. Chagossians, who now number around 10,000, do not see themselves as Mauritians and overwhelmingly oppose the transfer
12. British and American generals have expressed reservations about the deal, warning that a future Mauritian government might lease adjoining islands to unfriendly powers
13. The base has proved its strategic value many times, lying as it does lies within reach of four of the seven global choke points that funnel maritime traffic: the Bab-el-Mandeb, the Straits of Hormuz, the Malacca Straits and the Cape of Good Hope
14. Mauritius has no navy and admits it cannot protect the territory
15. At the same time, it wants commercial fishing in the matchless marine conservation zone around the islands
16. A Freedom of Information Request shows that the payments to Mauritius will total £34 billion
17. Mauritius says that this money will wipe out its national debt and still allow tax cuts
18. Opponents of the Bill want Chagossians themselves to decide the issue in a referendum
19. If the deal falls, Britain will be under a moral obligation to allow Chagossians to settle the outer atolls (see video in next post)
20. Providing for a permanent settlement will cost (on the government’s figures) one sixth or (on the actual figures) around one fiftieth as much as Labour wants to hand to Mauritius
21. The transfer cannot go ahead without both parliamentary ratification and the formal approval of the US, neither of which has been secured

[Dr Laurence Chacksfield @chacksfield]

@fesshole Actual doctor here.

I’d like to pick the category of “Things that definitely never happened” for 10 points please.

Neurologists. They’re bloody clever. Sometimes funny. But not *that* funny.

[Dr Laurence Chacksfield @chacksfield]

@maffygirl @veggieequallife This!

[Dr Laurence Chacksfield @chacksfield]

@ed_itu I’m so sorry to hear this. But post-operative wound care is (I believe) not technically covered by GPs unless they have an extra contract for wound care with the ICB. Is this not the fault of his discharging surgical team for not providing these?

[Dr Steve Taylor @DrSteveTaylor]

GPs are being progressively paid less for the work they do

Example: 2019 Care home Direct Enhanced Service was £120pa to provide enhanced care, recognising the health care needs of residents

The payment in this year’s enforced contract was …£120pa

CPI should have meant £153

[Kirstie Allsopp @KirstieMAllsopp]

If you have a house in Swansea that is worth £550,000 and you want to move to one that costs £650,000 you have to pay £29,250 in Stamp Duty. This is insane, no one is going to move, they will stay put and all the businesses that would benefit from that move won’t.

[Dr Laurence Chacksfield @chacksfield]

@Dr_BellaR GP here 👋 . Some of the salty comments on this are wild. In accountancy and law there are costs but people’s employers typically cover them. I found the costs a massive pain and my advice is (sadly) to set aside £70-80pm into a savings pot to cover for them. And ofc tax returns

[Dr Laurence Chacksfield @chacksfield]

@SkyNews Maybe time to send in @SAS to sort it out.

[Dr Laurence Chacksfield @chacksfield]

@DeanEggitt I just refuse. And I keep copying in the relevant pathways and then escalating managers / ICB people until this problem fixes itself.

Irrespective of local pathways, this is not our contracted job.

We are their colleagues, not their admin monkeys.

[Harry Cole @MrHarryCole]

totally normal 🙃

[Dr Laurence Chacksfield @chacksfield]

@AdrianBeavis1 @WalkerMarcus Nowhere near us but 2000km is not “very close” by anyone’s definition.

[Dr Laurence Chacksfield @chacksfield]

@calvinrobinson @jamesjpdrake Me too. I’ve seen it once a day for a month. @jamesjpdrake this makes me want to engage with you thing less.