NHS bill survives but are guerrilla tactics to follow?

Lord Owen’s motion has fallen by 330 to 262 – a convincing majority for the government. Lib Dems have held firm with the Coalition.

I met one former Tory Cabinet minister this morning who said he was making a rare visit to the Lords having received a summons from Lord Strathclyde to “save the NHS.”

“I will do my duty,” he said, “but I haven’t a clue what it all means”.

So a moment that could’ve meant death for the NHS bill has passed, but Labour has not given up. Ben Brogan in the Telegraph and on his blog  today talks about government worries that Labour is moving to guerrilla tactics in the Lords and changing the rules of the game.  

Read more: The NHS uncovered

Labour was signalling its intent on this stuff back in January over AV and the boundaries with sleep-ins and overnight sessions. Expect some more ambushes on the NHS.

Even if Labour doesn’t stall the measure it believes the more the public knows about the Coalition interfering with the way the NHS is run the more the public will blame them every time there’s a problem with any hospital … regardless of whether, like the Tory grandee, they have “a clue” about what the monster bill is all about. 

You can follow Gary Gibbon on Twitter @garygibbonblog