Another Christmas Story - from our 'Dear Leslie'

Yes indeedy ! yet another joyous story from our 'Dear leader', Leslie Griffiths.  Unfortunately, old trout, we've heard this so many times before, it's getting a bit tiresome and is now totally unbelievable.  It's usually headed "More Money for Mental Health", followed by some notional piece about rebuilding Whitchurch hospital ( for the 7th time of telling ), or pouring money into what is jocularly referred to as "Care in the Community" ( they say the old jokes are the best, don't they ? - this is now past its' 29th Anniversary, would you 'Adam and Eve It' ? ).

I know that there's this ten year old myth that you can be made Health Minister and know everything immediately.  Of course it isn't true, and just because she's been good at 'Whatever-she's-pleased-the-Party-with histiorically', doesn't mean that she'll be any ruddy good at running our depleted Health Service.  Still, like her equally ignorant predecessor's, she's wearing the old mantle and giving it a bash, as they say, while we sit here trying to work out what the hell she's doing, except 'more of the same', which is bad news all round, I'm afraid.  However - for what it's worth - she recently brightened up the festive season by announcing "Another £5.1/2m for Mental Health", as though we hadn't heard it all before, many times over.  However - in between Kim Jong Il photo opportunities 'at the coal face' as it were - she tells us that this money will benefit Care in the Community services, and make us all happy that the acutely mentally ill will be treated 'at home' instead of in those awful old hospital beds ( yawn ). Yes, to cynical 'Old Lags' like me, it has about as much value to the mentally ill as 'the second coming' has to die-hard Secularists. Once again, to repeat that crass phrase in the old Tom Cruise movie, Jerry McGuire, "Show me the money" - like, where and precisely how much is to be spent, and 'when' of course ? Perhaps someone out there knows more than this ? If so, please write in to robin.williams6@virgin.com, or enter a comment after this post.
Happy New Year to the 3500+ readers !  R.W.