The USA is currently embroiled in a fierce internal debate about the best way to fund and manage health care, as President Obama delivers on his promise to put it near the top of his reform agenda. By all accounts, the board rooms, town halls and sitting rooms of big, middle and little America are grappling with the issue with an intensity, according to one anecdotal account, that has not been seen since the days of the Vietnam war.

In the past few days the NHS has been pitched into the battle, with arguments about its merits from both sides of the political spectrum, be they moderate or extreme. Ordinary members of the public, British politicians, academics and “celebrities” have all weighed in, perhaps some of them incensed by the rhetoric from the far right of the Republican party and the USA’s insurance …