Do what I say, not what I do

To be honest, I have no idea if the proposed NHS changes will make things better or worse - but I don't think those who are claiming they will have an effect one way or the other know any better than I do either.

I have to admit that I actually thing the changes make a lot of sense from a layman's perspective. - surely it is better that the money follows the patient than the patient follows the money? - but I've not really studied the proposals and, to be quite honest, don't really care that much. The NHS is a gargantuan bureaucracy and I don't seriously expect that to change.

What is of more interest to me is the reaction from a certain quarter of British society to these proposals.

You see, I'm a conservative (not a Conservative - please note that there is a difference and these days it is a significant difference) and as such I am the sort of person who is always being accused of being resistant to change and opposed to radical ideas.

To be fair, this is partly true. I'm not resistant to change - I just believe that change should come through slow, measured steps and not through giant leaps into the unknown. I am opposed to radical ideas - but only untried and untested radical ideas. I have no problem whatsoever with the idea of radical change if that means a change back to a tried, tested and proven process of doing something which we know works and works well.

But the annoying thing for me is that the very people who are opposed to these radical changes in the NHS are the very sort who are most likely to criticise me and my like for our resistance to change and radical ideas.

The reality of these progressives is that they only want radical change to the things that they don't like. They are completely opposed to radical change that has an impact on their pet projects and the NHS is their most precious pet project.

It is the clearest case yet of do what I say, not what I do.