The NHS belongs to the country, not to the Labour Party
The Government won a vote in the House of Lords on second reading of the Health and Social Care Bill this week. The Bill will now be scrutinised by the Lords line by line, there will be more votes, there will be amendments and debate.
Those are the facts.
If you listen to the Labour Party however, the NHS ended this week and no-one dares to grow old or get ill. It is the worst kind of gutter politics and shows Labour is prepared to stoop very low to whip up hatred of the Coalition and all its works. But like the debt bubble Labour built its borrowing strategy on (£400 million per day don't forget), one day Labour's populism bubble will burst. One day people will want to know what Labour is for and not just what it is against.
When debate becomes hysterical it does no-one any favours. Not the politicians who need to debate serious issues calmly and while listening to the evidence. Not the public who might believe the Labour Party and conclude that the Royal will shut down on Saturday. Not the doctors and nurses who work in our NHS. Not the patients attending A&E this weekend. Not the GPs who are already private contractors and have been since the NHS was formed. No-one.
There are serious issues to be debated, points to be made and decisions to be taken. They will be better decisions if politicians on all sides debate them seriously without the personal invective and apocalyptic tone that seems to have become Labour's stock in trade in recent months.
Labour seem to view the NHS as being somehow their own pet project. They forget that it was invented by a Liberal (Beveridge) and that it has thrived through periods of Labour, Conservative and Coalition rule in this country. It belongs to Britain, not to the Labour Party.
They also seem to view it as perfect. I disagree. Labour left the NHS with massive 30 year debts in the form of bad PFI deals that mean it can cost anything up to £100 to get a lightbulb changed. Labour failed to make the NHS democratic. I happen not to think that the NHS should be run by Doctors. I think it should be more democratic, it should be run by and for the benefit of the people that rely on it not just for employment but also for healthcare. I think the NHS should help prevent people getting ill in the first place more than it does. I think the NHS should be more responsive to the needs of patients rather than the needs of the Trades Unions.
I want to see a completely modern NHS able to move forward as new treatments are discovered, able to deliver healthcare in the Information Age, able to give people more control over their own health and lives. I don't want an NHS that is set in stone and can never change. I want to see an NHS that means no-one has to pay for their healthcare but I also want to see an NHS that is both efficient and effective in its use of taxpayer cash.
I trust people like Mike Storey, Chris Rennard and Tony Greaves, all Lords, all sensible people, all people who want to see a great NHS, free at the point of use, modern, thriving and stopping people getting ill as well as helping them get better when they are. They won't vote for something that hurts and damages the NHS.
Is the Health and Social Care Bill perfect? No and I hope the Lords make some amendments to make the Bill better. Is the NHS perfect? No and I hope the Lords pass a Bill to take it further along that path.
Labour will have you believe that only they can save the NHS. It's not true. If you have a point of view about a part of the Bill that you think needs changing then why not write to your MP. Or a Lord. Or both. But don't fall for Labour's easy way out. Don't just oppose everything just because it is the Government proposing it. Take the time to find out about the issues and ask yourself whether you are opposing for the sake of opposing or if you want to see a real change. If you want to get involved then get stuck in. Read up on the issues at the heart of the debate and make a contribution to the discussion.
If, however, all you want to do is scream and shout and oppose everything because you think it is all the work of the "evil Tories" then take a long hard look in the mirror and ask yourself if incoherent hate is a real alternative to political debate.
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David Bartlett
City editor of the Post and Echo covering politics, regeneration, and urban affairs.
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Yes the Labour Party are utterly guilty of rank political opportunism and their NHS policies in government were duplicitous. Who racked up the private sector involvement in the NHS in the first place? Labour.
However, Rule One of politics is that you cannot trust the Tories with the NHS, whether they are Blairite Tories or Cameron Tories. I don't/didn't nor am I comfortable trusting to luck and the undoubted sterling efforts of various LD peers and MPs.This farrago was not in the coalition agreement and should be opposed by all Liberal Democrats
What a strange title for Richard. If one did not know better one would assume that he, and Mike Storey who also got a mention, somehow represent the people which last time I looked was not the case.
How strange that if a government is in power one can have the opinion that everything they then go on to say or do somehow becomes what the people voted them in for.
Even stranger is the notion that by accumulating a certain number of crosses on ballot papers, a group of politicians somehow become experts on health care overnight whereas the previous day they knew nothing about it.
How naive that whenever someone uses the term modernisation or reform then one should be expected to believe that it is actually a reform or a modernisation rather than something else. It is a bit like Jack the ripper saying that he only wanted to reform the streets of old London town.
While the people who work in the NHS are opposed to it, and we are not talking an attack on pay and conditions here, and the government support it, the idea that anyone could expect the public to agree with the politician over the health professional is a rather scary one. I can only think that Richard is getting confused between an MP’s surgery and a doctor’s surgery perhaps.
I do recall one occasion under an earlier conservative government when there was trouble between them and the NHS and one Margaret Thatcher appeared on tv fresh from the hospital operation on her veins all smiling. The operation was done privately of course which is not always an option for the general public.
Having being under the knife twice in my lifetime and, if the first had been delayed a day or the second delayed a month I would not be around so do I want Cameron and co. Playing with the NHS in opposition to the views of the NHS professionals. For entirely selfish reasons I would have to say no irrespective of Richard’s blind faith.
Goo the full hog marbrow. Join the Tories, and take all of your fellow travellers with you. All you are doing is implementing Tory policies.
Maybe Mr Marbrow should have a look at todays Guardian and then consider does he still have such undying support for the coalitions health policies- the practice(sic) is a great deal different to whats being said in parliament
Trust Storey, Rennard and Greaves- oh please- get into the real world