Demonstration effect

摘要

In one respect at least, Labour's obsession at this week's conference with the succession to Tony Blair served the government well. It distracted attention from the groundswell of opposition within Labour ranks to reforms in the health service. On September 27th, the conference ignored the pleas of Patricia Hewitt, the health secretary, and voted for a motion calling on the government to "rethink the headlong rush to a competitive system". On the same day, Unison, the public-sector union that had put forward the motion, staged a second one-day strike protesting against the government's decision to outsource the health service's logistics arm to dhl, a German company.