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| Clegg fails to reassure Lib Dem activists over NHS bill | Clegg fails to reassure Lib Dem activists over NHS bill |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Lib Dem activists will press for a vote on axing the NHS bill at next week's spring conference - despite Nick Clegg's efforts to reassure his party. | Lib Dem activists will press for a vote on axing the NHS bill at next week's spring conference - despite Nick Clegg's efforts to reassure his party. |
| The deputy PM put forward changes on Tuesday which he said should allow the bill to proceed and reassure Lib Dems. | The deputy PM put forward changes on Tuesday which he said should allow the bill to proceed and reassure Lib Dems. |
| But activists will press for a motion urging the "deeply flawed" bill to be "withdrawn or defeated". | But activists will press for a motion urging the "deeply flawed" bill to be "withdrawn or defeated". |
| Sources close to the Lib Dem leader said they believe the motion will be defeated, if it is selected for debate. | |
| They told the BBC that once activists see the level of support for the amended bill among Lib Dem MPs and peers, they will vote down calls for the bill to be dropped. | |
| The motion, which must be approved by organisers, says the Health and Social Care Bill, which applies to England only, cannot be made "fit for purpose" by further amendments. | |
| The bill aims to give GPs control of much of the NHS budget and would open up the health service to greater competition from the private and voluntary sector. | The bill aims to give GPs control of much of the NHS budget and would open up the health service to greater competition from the private and voluntary sector. |
| Party unease | |
| But the motion says the controversial shake-up of the NHS in England has failed to win over the public and health professionals, would be disruptive at a time the NHS is having to make big savings. | But the motion says the controversial shake-up of the NHS in England has failed to win over the public and health professionals, would be disruptive at a time the NHS is having to make big savings. |
| It has to first be accepted by organisers of next week's spring conference in Gateshead, if it is to be debated. | It has to first be accepted by organisers of next week's spring conference in Gateshead, if it is to be debated. |
| BBC News Channel chief political correspondent Norman Smith said it was a significant setback for Mr Clegg's attempts to overcome unease within his party over the plans. | BBC News Channel chief political correspondent Norman Smith said it was a significant setback for Mr Clegg's attempts to overcome unease within his party over the plans. |
| Mr Clegg's letter to Lib Dem MPs and peers, also signed by Baroness Williams, set out five changes they wanted to see in the Bill, which is being debated by peers this week. | |
| Mr Clegg added that "once these final changes have been agreed, we believe conference can be reassured that it has finished the job it started last March and the bill should be allowed to proceed". | Mr Clegg added that "once these final changes have been agreed, we believe conference can be reassured that it has finished the job it started last March and the bill should be allowed to proceed". |
| But one leading Lib Dem member resigned from the party on Thursday, warning Mr Clegg that his support for the bill will be "a slow motion disaster" for the NHS and the party. | |
| Dr Graham Winyard, the chair of the Winchester Lib Dems and a member of the party's health committee, said in his resignation letter to Mr Clegg: "It is just not sensible to impose this top-down reorganisation. | |
| "To continue to do so in the face of near unanimous opposition from patient, staff and professional organisations simply invites slow motion disaster both for the NHS and for the party." | |
| Dr Winyard, a former deputy chief medical officer for England, said Mr Clegg had urged him to "soldier on regardless" but he felt it more appropriate to resign. |