Name: Anger as Tory peer Dido Harding, pal of David Cameron, to lead new health body
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Anger as Tory peer Dido Harding, pal of David Cameron, to lead new health body

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Labour and the Lib Dems blasted a decision to appoint Baroness Harding - whose experience includes Tesco and the ill-fated TalkTalk - to lead a new Institute for Health Protection, instead of someone with a lifetime in medicine Ministers face a furious backlash after it emerged the Tory peer in charge of "test and trace" has been lined up for another key role in tackling . Baroness Dido Harding, who was put in the House of Lords by her university friend David Cameron in 2014, is tipped to lead a new Institute for Health Protection which will replace Public Health England. Health Secretary Matt Hancock is expected to announce more details in a speech later this morning. But the Guardian, BBC and Sunday Telegraph all reported Baroness Harding will lead the new Institute. Ministers face fury for appointing a Tory peer to the role - instead of someone with a full medical background. While she is chair of NHS Improvement, Baroness Harding has also held senior roles at Tesco and Sainsbury's. And she was chief executive of TalkTalk when it was fined £400,000 for "security failings" which led to 157,000 customers' personal data being stolen.Her latest role as chief of NHS Test and Trace, which launched in May, has also been mired in controversy. The service - mostly outsourced to Serco and Sitel - scaled back its national operations and handed more authority to local councils after failing to reach more than a quarter of Covid-19 sufferers' close contacts. And plans to launch a companion app were pushed back by months after it didn't work and had to start again from scratch. Shadow Health Minister Justin Madders said: "I’m literally speechless. "Appointed to a body that hasn’t been created yet without an interview and with a track record like that - absolutely no transparency or accountability." Lib Dem health spokeswoman Munira Wilson said: "We need to have total transparency in how appointments of this kind are made, rather than promoting a Tory insider who's been responsible for the sub-par Test &amp; Trace system." There are still unanswered questions about what will happen to all Public Health England's other duties - which have nothing to do with a pandemic. shadow minister Jess Phillips said: "What the hell does Dido Harding know about cervical screening, substance misuse, sexual health, contraception, smoking cessation, obesity or even pandemic planning? "This from government who brought you the death of 10% of care home residents and long drives for eye tests." Lib Dem leadership contender Layla Moran said: "This is appalling. Where is the open, transparent recruitment process? "Why is this being announced at a think tank and not in Parliament? The government is undermining the reputation of this new agency before it has even been launched." Baroness Harding's husband is the Tory MP John Penrose. In June the Mirror revealed how One article authored by 1828’s co-founders argued Britain should be “bold and progressive” – scrapping the NHS in favour of a system where people pay for insurance either through private firms or a government scheme. It said: “With a social health insurance system, you don’t need the state to own or subsidise hospitals, or to control policy from the centre; you simply need it to regulate the system to a satisfactory degree.” Labour MP Chris Bryant said: "It’s appalling that Johnson has appointed a Conservative peer, married to a Conservative MP to run the National Institute for Health Protection. "It’s as if all Rabbit’s friends and relations have been given squatting rights to 100 acre wood. Only it’s not a children’s story." Baroness Harding led telecoms giant TalkTalk when it suffered a massive cyber attack in October 2015 when hackers accessed 157,000 customers' details, including bank account numbers. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) fined TalkTalk £400,000 over the breach, which ultimately cost the company an estimated £77 million. The ICO issued TalkTalk with a record fine in 2016 for security failings that it said had allowed customers' data including some 15,656 bank account numbers to be accessed "with ease".&nbsp; She was appointed to the Sainsbury's operating board in March 2008 after a stint at Tesco where she held a variety of senior roles both in the UK and international businesses. Her retail experience was boosted by her time working at Kingfisher plc and Thomas Cook Limited. She has also served on the board of the British Land Company plc and is a trustee of Doteveryone and a member of the UK National Holocaust Foundation Board. She became a peer in August 2014 and has sat on the Economic Affairs Committee of the Lords since July 2017.&nbsp; Away from the worlds of politics and business, she is a jockey and racehorse owner who has served on the board of Cheltenham Racecourse.This year's Cheltenham Festival came under the spotlight after about 150,000 people attended the four-day event in March, which ended 10 days before lockdown measures began. Sir David King, the government's chief scientific adviser from 2000 to 2007, told the BBC it was "the best possible way to accelerate the spread of the virus". The Government said it followed the advice available at the time while Cheltenham Racecourse's medical director added it was not possible to know how - and where - people had contracted the virus. Mr Penrose previously said: “I have written a couple of pieces for 1828 and I was asked to join their advisory board in April, but I am yet to attend a meeting. "Like any good independent think-tank they publish a range of political ideas. I don’t necessarily agree with all of them particularly if they contradict the NHS manifesto pledges on which I was elected just six months ago.” A spokesperson for 1828 previously said: "1828 is an opinion platform that doesn't take an 'institutional' view. "The members of our advisory board do not agree with every article that is published - but rather support the goal of 1828 , which is 'to champion freedom.' "Any article that is published are the views of the author and not 1828"Follow MORE ON

Labour and the Lib Dems blasted a decision to appoint Baroness Harding - whose experience includes Tesco and the ill-fated TalkTalk - to lead a new Institute for Health Protection, instead of someone with a lifetime in medicine Ministers face a furious backlash after it emerged the Tory peer in charge of "test and trace" has been lined up for another key role in tackling . Baroness Dido Harding, who was put in the House of Lords by her university friend David Cameron in 2014, is tipped to lead a new Institute for Health Protection which will replace Public Health England. Health Secretary...

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Anger as Tory peer Dido Harding, pal of David Cameron, to lead new health body

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