Drop the Bill: the fight continues
Posted by Kate Green, MP for Stretford and Urmston, at 15:35, Fri 2 March 2012:
I’ve just spent yesterday afternoon campaigning with Andy Burnham, Labour’s shadow health secretary, talking to shoppers in Urmston about the government’s disastrous NHS Bill.
In 2 hours’ campaigning, I didn’t speak to a single person who’s in favour of it. People understand that it will create a postcode lottery for health treatment, and with hospitals able to fill up to half their beds with private patients, there’s a real worry about how long NHS patients will have to wait for treatment.
A couple of weeks ago, it looked like the government were wobbling, and might even abandon the Bill. But now it seems they’ve had a change of heart, and are determined to railroad it through parliament as fast as possible.
Labour MPs will do everything we can to prevent this happening. But the government really needs to hear how angry the public feel. There’s been some great online campaigning over the past few days, and if Tory and especially LibDem MPs have had even a fraction of the emails from their constituents that I’ve had from mine, they’ll be getting a message loud and clear – the public don’t want this Bill, and their MPs should vote against it.
We’ve got another opportunity to send the message to Cameron this weekend, when a rally against the NHS Bill will be taking place in Manchester. If you feel as strongly as I do that these changes would be a disaster for our NHS, join us in Albert Square this Saturday at 11am to make sure your voice is heard.
On another matter, this week in the Advertiser I wrote an article about the worries local have about safety in our communities, the effect of police cuts, and the government’s plans to abolish ASBOs. Over the coming weeks, I’ll be seeking residents’ feedback on how safe people feel in our community, whether they feel confident walking around after dark, and suggestions for how to make our area safer.
I know the presence of police officers on our streets is particularly important to local people. The police stand in the frontline to keep us all safe, and protect our communities. This week, we were shocked to hear of the tragic death of PC David Rathband, shot in the face two years ago by Raul Moat. Now I’m pleased to hear that local resident Rory Claydon is fundraising for the Blue Lamp Foundation he set up to provide immediate financial assistance to families where offices are injured in the line of duty. You can donate to Rory’s fundraising campaign at http://www.justgiving.com/Rory-Claydon.
Best Wishes
Kate
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Posted by Jonathan Homer, 16:06, Fri 2 March 2012: (Is this post abusive?) #
Kate
On policing, interesting that between 97 and 2001 Labour cut numbers by avg of 2,000 a year before they were able to increase policing. Even then there was zero growth in police numbers between 2005 and the election in 2010. In fact the total number of police in 2010 was less than in 2005. Cuts are going to happen, they have to because Labour left the country in so much debt.
On the NHS i am very much undecided on the new bill. When it launched in 1948 there were complaints that there was insufficient resources to meet the needs of the population. I think its fair to say the NHS has been doomed since day 1. Labour has poured money into the NHS over 13 years of goverment, and lets face it, it hasnt gotten any better.
While many people see the NHS as the finest achievement of British society, we shouldnt let misplaced national pride cloud our vision when it comes to changing for the better.
What would Labour be doing instead of the bill then? You poured money into the NHS with little effect. The population is growing, the life expectancy of people is growing, the burden that the NHS places on the treasury is growing, how is Labour going to deal with this? Sureley after 13 years of constant funding from Labour its time to look at another strategy?