We Love the NHS More Than They Do

I've received two press releases about the NHS in the past few hours - one from Downing Street, titled "PM backs support for NHS on Twitter", and one from the Conservatives, titled "Lansley challenges Labour to match Conservative commitment to the NHS".

The Government and opposition, represented by Tory Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley, are battling to prove who loves the NHS most.

It follows a campaign on Twitter - a website which allows people to send short messages to anyone who wants to receive them, anywhere in the world - to support the NHS.

Many Twitter users have posted short messages and added the phrase "welovethenhs" at the end.

I don't know how many messages have been posted in total, but as I write this, at three in the afternoon, there have been 1,500 in the past hour.

The campaign is a reaction to US opponents of Barack Obama's healthcare plans, who have highlighted the British system as an example, in their eyes, of everything that is wrong with government-run health services.

British politicians are keen to jump on the "welovethenhs" bandwagon.

The issue should be a winner for Labour, which has traditionally been seen as the party of the NHS, but David Cameron has worked hard since becoming Tory leader to prove that he too is committed to our national health system.

Unfortunately for Mr Cameron, his position has been undermined by Daniel Hannan, a Conservative MEP who has been busy on Fox News and other US networks telling Americans why our system is terrible.

Mr Hannan became a political celebrity following an eloquent speech attacking Gordon Brown earlier this year. He was rewarded with the chance to make a high-profile speech at the Tory spring conference in April.

I doubt he'll be offered a similar opportunity when the Conservatives hold their annual conference in October.