Politicians who continue to welcome contracts with US companies without considering the risks and consequences of total dependency in the years to come are undermining the raison d’etre of the NHS, argues Dr JOHN PUNTIS

IN the early 1990s, the Daily Mirror ran a story contrasting the squalid state of Britain’s schools under education secretary John Patten and his department’s swanky new offices in Westminster.
The new lodgings, at Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street, were costing £12 million in rent, and featured an atrium with foliage hanging from the ceiling to the ground floor.
The following day, Richard Garner, the journalist behind the story, received a phone call from a DfE official.

CONRAD LANDIN offers a guide to the diverse shows at Edinburgh Art Festival