Most ominously, both Mr Gove and the Tories' leader, David Cameron, are fond of party-pleasing prescriptions, including policies for which proof of effectiveness is non-existent (school uniforms) or limited (insisting on synthetic phonics for teaching reading).

ECONOMIST: The Conservatives on education

Walgreen currently operates at 8, 537 locations, including 8, 072 drugstores and competes for prescriptions with CVS Caremark and Rite Aid among others.

FORBES: Quick Take

Free prescriptions were previously only available to certain groups, including the unemployed who no longer faced the extra cost of medicine if they went back to work, Mr Jones said.

BBC: Free prescriptions: Carwyn Jones in Welsh Labour pledge

Up to 190, 000 British children are now estimated to be on psychiatric drugs including anti-depressants, with Ritalin one of the most common prescriptions.

BBC: Child clinic made 'diagnosis errors'

Christine McCleary leaves glasses in different prescriptions and combinations in strategic spots around the house, including bifocal sunglasses for driving and two strengths of computer glasses for multitasking.

WSJ: How Technology Tries Our Eyesight

Its adherents (including Mr Paul's fellow Republicans Paul Ryan and Michele Bachmann) differ a lot in their preoccupations and prescriptions.

ECONOMIST: Heterodox economics