The government tells us, “in spite of the recent G4S debacle and others like it, that private companies run a ‘tighter ship’; that they are leaner, more efficient, and give better value for taxpayers’ money – in spite of the obvious flaw in the argument, which is that if you’re taking profits out of the total funding, that money will never be spent at the frontline”. And Circle Health is telling us that it is even putting profit before the investment it acknowledges that it needs to carry out, and going back – cap in hand – to the taxpayer for another handout.

How long do we have to put up with these corporate spongers, scrounging cash from a government that must be either gullible to the point of drooling imbecility or utterly corrupt, with the latter seeming more likely every day?