The NHS is 70 years old today. It was conceived and given
birth to, by Labour. Resisted by doctors and blocked 21 times by the Tories,
the NHS is Labour’s greatest achievement.
Nye Bevan created the NHS so that everyone, whether rich or
poor, could have equal access to healthcare – free at the point of use. He
warned at the time that the NHS would last only as long as folk are prepared to
fight for it. In its 70 year history, the fight has never been harder and the
stakes never been higher.
All around the country, hospitals are being shut, beds cut,
services axed, all in readiness for full blown privatisation. The leaner the
NHS machine the more attractive it will be to the US capitalists bidding for
contracts. Everything from mental health to children services is being outsourced
to privateers, whose priority is not patient care. It’s profit. Hiding behind
the NHS logo, the NHS itself is being broken up and, brick by brick, it’s being
dismantled and destroyed.
To mark the NHS’ 70th birthday, the National
Health Singers, have launched a new single, “Won’t let go”. It’s a kick ass
fight back tune that Jeremy Hunt will be hoping flops. For that reason alone it’s
worth buying - in a bid to help it on its way to Number 1 in the charts!
See the vid here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paUzAOCw228
Today, I’ll celebrate the heroes - the nurses, doctors,
healthcare workers and porters that keep the NHS alive, but I’ll also be
mobilising my community against those that are bent on killing it. We must fight
- now - against cuts & closures to our vital services. If we don’t, there’ll
be nothing left to salvage from the Tory wreckers' rubble. Complacency and
apathy are not an option. Future generations will never forgive us if we fail
to act now.
Happy 70th, NHS 💙
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