Editor's blog Wednesday 16 March 2011: Opposition Debate text online

The Opposition Day debate on NHS reorganisation is now online.

And the vote wasn't even close, at 224-305.

Assuming Labour wanted to actually try and win some refusenik Lib Dem MPs' votes for their motion, the repeated sniping tone and content of some backbench interventions towards the party that on Saturday actually changed its policy to oppose much of the Bill was counter-productive.

Perhaps Labour didn't. Perhaps this was positioning.

But the outright failure to have a more strategic use of the dividing lines that have opened up within the Coalition on NHS reform was underwhelming.

The high point for the Opposition was an excellent, nicely-argued closing speech from Liz Kendall, whose command of detail combined with fluency in the courtesy of the House to good effect.

Health Minister Paul 'Who?' Burstow took the Order Of The Pot-Kettle-Black (1st Class) for his comments about shadow health secretary John Healey not being recognised in arrival at the Lib Dem spring conference; but did go on to score in the open goal of Labour's idiotic take-or-pay-and-buy-the-site-anyway ISTC contracts.