The Tory mask has been well and truly ripped off by the comments of their MEP Daniel Hannan on the NHS.

Warning Americans against supporting Barack Obama’s health reforms Hannan described the NHS as a socialist mistake that made people iller.

He ignored the fact that America spends twice what we do on health care, has worse outcomes and leaves 60 of its people with no care at all.

That’s why most Americans support health reforms.

Hannan also ignored all the recent international studies that show the the NHS at or near the top of the league for effectiveness, efficiency and fairness, with the US system at or near the bottom.

He bemoans the fact UK doctors don’t earn the millions of dollars American ones do. I suspect he would like the drugs and insurance companies to make more too, as they do in private healthcare systems. And who would pay? The taxpayer, patient, employer and the lowest paid health workers.

How many of us have been helped by the NHS? The vast majority I would imagine, from birth onwards. Hannan’s comments are an insult to all the great staff who work to heal millions of us every day of every year - for the past 60 years.

And why hasn’t Cameron slapped hannan down? Because most Tory MPs and activists share Hannan’s views and, following his recent rant about Gordon Brown in the EU Parliament, Hannan is now the bookies favourite to succeed Cameron!

Even the English weather managed to match the mood of hope and optimism of the summit. Blue sky, late daffodils and early cherry blossom - London at its early spring best. A bit more weather like this over Easter and, who knows, dare we hope for a domestic tourism boom?

Is anyone not in love with Michelle Obama? My boss, Alan Johnson, declared himself smitten having had the enviable task of accompanying the First Lady to Charing Cross hospital in London this week. She hugs the Queen, wows cancer patients and inspires school girls. Here, surely, is a one woman global feelgood factor. But Sarah Brown, too, in her quiet, non-self-assuming way has had a very good summit. Whereas poor Cherie Blair bore the brunt of a vicious media hate campaign for most of her period in Downing Street, even the Tory paperscan’t find fault with Sarah. Following her stunning performance at the Labour Party conference last year, her hard work during the successfulGlenrothes by-election and her brilliant handling of the world leaders’ wives this week, she has established herself as Gordon’s greatest public asset.

Thankfully the doom-mongers were wrong again.The Tories and their media cheerleaders had hoped for and predicted failureat the London summit.But with even the Government’s most ardent critics acknowledging the G20’ssuccess and praising Gordon Brown for his role, the Conservatives just lookirrelevant and ungracious. Hence Osborne’s floundering performance in theCommons yesterday.The Tories’ hope is that memories of this historic agreement will soon fadeas the grim reality of credit crunch Brtain takes hold.But without the measures agreed things would have been much worse - notethe reaction of the markets, the rise in lending and signs from the housingmarket.The fact is the Tories, along with Barack’s Republican enemies in America,are the only people in the world opposing the measures we and othercountries are taking to beat the recession.So, with the Tories friendless abroad and with no answers to the challengesfacing Britain, we are in for an interesting period in politics.