I imagine in the US he would be given an award for opposing "socialist"
health care!
Cheers, Ken Hanly
'We don't use the NHS' business chief is sacked
BCC acts fast to distance itself from director general's Budget outburst
Julia Finch, City editor
Saturday April 20, 2002
The Guardian
The director general of one of Britain's top business groups has been sacked
after launching an assault on Gordon Brown's Budget plan to make businesses
pay towards upgrading the health service.
David Lennan, head of the British Chambers of Commerce, was fired after a
BCC board meeting on Thursday afternoon. The board decision to remove him
from the job was unanimous.
Yesterday the BCC said Mr Lennan had been told to go because he was
overseeing the modernisation of the organisation and there was concern that
changes were not being made fast enough.
However it was also clear that the organisation was not happy with a
statement issued by Mr Lennan after the chancellor sat down on Wednesday
afternoon. The statement focused on the new, higher national insurance
charges businesses will face to help pay for health service improvements.
In a press release to represent the views of the membership, Mr Lennan said:
"Employers do not draw on the national health service and should not be
asked to pay for its improvements".
A second statement, issued a couple of hours later, went on to praise the
chancellor for other aspects of his Budget plans.
Yesterday the BCC - which represents 135,000 business members ranging from
small start-ups to regional branches of multinational organisations -
refused to support Mr Lennan's Budget reaction. A spokesman said only that
health was not a BCC "priority", but added: "Of course there is a role for
business to play."