NEWS & NOTES about the house Tony’s magic wand

C Coates*

The party conference season can always be relied on for sheer entertainment, but rarely provides much of interest to dentists. This year proved to be an exception.

Amid all the slickness and stage manage- Scotland: Sleaze and Water devolved powers, so the Scots can go ahead ment, Labour unveiled some policies, North of the border, the Scottish Parlia- with it if they want to — and Susan Dea- and — for the first time ever, as far as ment has become embroiled in a similar con, the Scottish Health Minister, is in the anyone knows — the BDA was name- “scandal” to the ‘Drapergate’ incident process of finding out what the Scots peo- checked in the Prime Minister’s address which caused the Labour government at ple want at the moment. It is to be hoped to the faithful. “Working with the British Westminster minor irritation earlier in its that the result will be one which will bene- Dental Association,” he said, “everyone term of office. In that case, well-connect- fit their traditionally poor oral health. within the next two years will be able once ed lobbyist Derek Draper boasted of the again to see an NHS dentist just by phon- Common sense ing NHS Direct.” William Hague’s keynote speech to his This is encouraging news — even to party’s conference was seen by most com- those practitioners who have been a lit- ...for the first time ever, mentators as his political coming of age. tle cynical about the idea of NHS Direct Sadly for Hague, the Guardian’s sketch- being a panacea for NHS dentistry’s ills. as far as anyone knows writer, Simon Hoggart, may be correct in Labour seems finally to have realised — the BDA was name- saying: “He looks like an important party that there might be votes in dentistry. leader. All he needs now is to find an The question is how — and the BDA checked in the Prime important political party to lead”. For — will be working with the government on while politics’ most famous baseball cap this issue. Minister’s address to wearer might be putting his failures We do know that callers to NHS the faithful. “Working behind him — other aspects of his party’s Direct will be referred to an NHS den- past continue to hang over him. His tist “within convenient travelling dis- with the British Dental attempts to unveil new “common sense” tance” — and that 30 “phone and go” policies were somewhat overshadowed by schemes across the country will Association,” he said, Lady Thatcher’s not altogether sensible improve access. As yet, it is unclear decision to suggest that Europe is the whether the government will be spend- “everyone within the source of all evil and that General ing the sort of money the BDA asked for next two years will be Pinochet is a political prisoner. Whatever in its recent DDRB evidence — the one’s views on either subject, common more sceptical among the profession able once again to see sense would suggest that a little modera- might want to substitute “unlikely” for tion might have helped. Hague was also “unclear”. an NHS dentist ...” not helped by Denis Thatcher’s sotto voce What all this probably does confirm observation to Ffion Hague at an other- is that Blair was already certain what access he could provide his clients to wise carefully stage-managed photo oppor- he would be doing in the reshuffle Labour high command. Similar claims tunity: “These things get more inane (that followed a couple of weeks later) have been made by Kevin Reid of Beattie every year” he said — when a BBC camera by the time he made the speech — and Media (a Scottish lobbying firm, now was just a little too close. that he planned to make Alan Milburn defunct as a result of the allegations). Mr So, dental health may improve in Scot- the new Health Secretary whether or Reid happens to be the son of one John land — and NHS dentistry might just be not Frank Dobson had been persuaded Reid — who happens to be Scottish Secre- dragged back from the edge of the to stand for mayor. Blair is unlikely to tary. It is likely, however, that this will also precipice. However, one definite lesson have risked making the commitment turn out to be a minor problem, rather from the party conference season was unless he knew he would have a faith- than the tip of any “Labour sleaze” iceberg that, whether you like them or not, you ful ally and a proven achiever in the –– for the simple reason that what some had better get used to Labour’s policies — key post. Dobson must have sensed lobbyists promise and what they actually on health as well as everything else. that he has a good chance of getting deliver are rarely one and the same thing. Nobody else’s are likely to be implemented the Labour Party’s mayoral nomina- The good news from Scotland is that for a long time yet. tion — and the job itself — and had water fluoridation appears to be progress- the intelligence to realise that it was ing there rather more quickly than it is in * Chris Coates, press and parliamentary officer that job or no job. the rest of the UK. Health is one of the at the BDA, reports on events at Westminster.

516 BRITISH DENTAL JOURNAL VOLUME 187, NO. 9, NOVEMBER 13 1999