Darzi briefings seek to deflect Henley and sleaze headlines

Downing Street has started officially leaking bits of the Darzi report due to be delivered on Monday to counter the barrage of abuse heaped on Gordon Brown to mark his first year in office and to distract attention from last night's disastrous result in the Henley by-election, where the Labour candidate came fifth behind the Greens and the BNP with just three per cent, losing his deposit..

The spin machine went into overdrive after the Met - with impeccable timing - announced that it had delivered a dossier to the Crown Prosecution Service on the 'proxy donations' scandal involving the Geordie business tycoon, David Abrahams and a dodgy £650,000 paid to Labour through third-party business associates in breach of the electoral rules.

The Brown camp were furious with the Met for this dastardly deed. It looked like another stunt, similar to those which kept the words 'sleaze' and 'Tony Blair' in the news for months during the fruitless inquiries into the so-called 'cash for peerages' debacle.

With Brown braced for a humiliating set of headlines this morning, Downing Street began briefing journalists last night about parts of the Darzi report, which duly overshadowed the 'Met delivers sleaze file' stories. It may even be enough to deflect criticism of the Gloomy Broon over Labour's hapless showing in Henley.

For there is a nugget in the froth about the Darzi report that threatens to become Brown's 'Big Idea'. He is now embracing the idea of 'social enterprises' within the public services. In the health service, it means that nurses are to be encouraged to set up their own organisations to contract for services to Primary Care Trusts. In effect, they will be running companies competing with existing GPs to deliver services to patients.

Social enterprises are to be encouraged across the public services, in social care - for the elderly or the handicapped, and in education. Brown might draw the line at inviting the police are invited to form their own freelance squads to compete with the county force, but it is an idea that he can at least claim is potentially radical.

There are likely to be more nuggets from the Darzi report briefed out to the Sunday newspapers. Lord Darzi will be left to announce the rest of the package on Monday. But Gordon's priority is to protect himself from accusations like those from former cheerleader Polly Toynbee that he is running a party that is 'bankrupt financially and bereft of ideas'.

Today Brooding Broon is trying to escape the London commentariat by going on a tour of the north west. What's the betting he meets up with Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United boss, in the hope that some of Fergie's Premier League winning team's trophy-winning success will rub off on him?

THE MOLE: DARZI REPORT

FIRST POSTED JUNE 27, 2008