Liberal Democrats forced withdrawl of regulations - welcomed by Andrew George.

Andrew George welcomes the Government's decision today to withdraw regulations which would have opened up almost all of the NHS to private company takeover.

Mr George, who is a member of the Health Select Committee, has predicted that Health Ministers would have to go back to the drawing board. He said that no Liberal Democrat would have supported the competition regulations in their present form and that fact had forced Tory health minister to back down.

Mr George said "I welcome today's announcement. But now Ministers will have to go much further to reassure Liberal Democrats, clinicians and campaigners that core NHS services cannot be fragmented by predatory private companies looking to cheery pick profitable services. This requires the advice of doctors, not spin doctors. This needs substantial change not weasel words."