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Twitter trolls and the Health Bill

The NHS twitter trolls were out in force late last night and got up early this morning.

“@oliver_wright, govt stooge & serial falsifier of fact and smear artist extraordinaire upto his usual tricks on tomorrow’s Indy frontpage,” wrote @Barsacq.

By Oliver Wright | Battle of Ideas, Eagle Eye - Breaking views from commentators - | Tuesday, 13 March 2012 at 11:48 am

1

An unintended consequence of the phone hacking scandal

Here’s something to watch for.
One unintended consequence of the phone hacking scandal is likely to be an odd effect on the reporting of Britain’s criminal justice system.
For the last 30 years a staple of the tabloid press has been to lambast judges for being “soft” on sentencing.
“Just 164 days for hit-run man who paralysed a [...]

By Oliver Wright | Eagle Eye - Breaking views from commentators - | Tuesday, 2 August 2011 at 11:25 am

6

News of the World: The case for the defence

The “firestorm” of hacking – as David Cameron vividly described it – appears to be dying down a bit today.
There will be more revelations in the coming weeks but the combination of a new police investigation, a judge led inquiry and Murdoch backing down over the BSkyB deal has taken some of the political sting [...]

By Oliver Wright | Eagle Eye - Breaking views from commentators - | Thursday, 14 July 2011 at 12:06 pm

3

Save the NHS: Shut your local hospital

Trick question: You are involved in a serious road accident which has resulted in a life threatening brain injury. Do you want to be taken to the nearest hospital?

Answer: Not necessarily.

By Oliver Wright | Eagle Eye - Breaking views from commentators - | Monday, 20 June 2011 at 10:47 am

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Climategate part 2? A worrying conflict of interest

Yesterday I wrote a story in the paper about how the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (the UN’s authority on climate change) had used a Greenpeace campaigner to help write a key part of its report on renewable energy.

By Oliver Wright | Eagle Eye - Breaking views from commentators - | Friday, 17 June 2011 at 11:32 am

10

Bad news for celebrity seeking Twitterati

At the time it seemed a bit unlikely.
Yesterday’s Mail on Sunday led on a story about a journalist (who cannot be named) being reported to the Attorney General for criminal contempt for naming one of the two footballers (who cannot be named) in a tweet.
Britain’s defamation judges may be out of touch but you’d have [...]

By Oliver Wright | Notebook - A selection of Independent views - | Monday, 23 May 2011 at 2:42 pm

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David Cameron, the NHS and a £400,000 yacht

Earlier this week David Cameron gave a speech on the Government’s NHS reforms.
It’s always interesting with such a speech (which is long on rhetoric and short on facts) to at least investigate the facts that are there.
And one fact stood out. In a section on why the NHS needs to be reformed Mr Cameron referred [...]

By Oliver Wright | Eagle Eye - Breaking views from commentators - | Thursday, 19 May 2011 at 3:32 pm

13

Why Lib Dem politics could make lousy policy

The Liberal Democats new stridency on healthcare reform is increasingly evident around Westminster.
Both in public and private Lib Dems are letting it be known that they will veto large chunks of the Health Bill – and portray it as a victory for their influence in Government.
“At the end of the day if we think this [...]

By Oliver Wright | Notebook - A selection of Independent views - | Wednesday, 11 May 2011 at 11:37 am

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Now it’s really personal: Prescott savages Kinnock

Former deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has not taken kindly to comments by his party’s former leader Neil Kinnock that he “cannot understand” how Prescott can support a ‘no vote’.
Having read Mr Kinnock criticism of him in today’s Independent Mr Prescott has contacted us to hit back – in even more personal terms – effectively [...]

By Oliver Wright | Eagle Eye - Breaking views from commentators - | Tuesday, 3 May 2011 at 6:43 pm

11

Why Blunkett, Reid and Prescott have much to answer for

Neil Kinnock, the former Labour leader, may no longer be on the national stage but he is still a totemic figure in the Labour movement – and that makes his intervention in the AV debate significant.
Today he becomes the first senior Labour figure to openly question the motives of Mssrs Blunkett, Reid and Prescott (amongst [...]

By Oliver Wright | Eagle Eye - Breaking views from commentators - | Tuesday, 3 May 2011 at 11:39 am