Politicians who continue to welcome contracts with US companies without considering the risks and consequences of total dependency in the years to come are undermining the raison d’etre of the NHS, argues Dr JOHN PUNTIS

I BECAME aware of joint enterprise after watching Jimmy McGovern’s shocking and powerful 2014 drama Common.
This is the legal doctrine, technically known as the law of complicity, that has resulted in people being convicted of very serious crimes, including murder, despite someone else committing the act itself.
Joint enterprise is used to prosecute someone who intentionally “assists or encourages” an offence — and if found guilty, they are punished as harshly as if they had been the principal offender, which can lead to life imprisonment.



