Bad news from the Lords
Thanks to everyone who helped lobby Peers about the Health and Social Care Bill.
We’ve just had the demoralising news that the Bill has passed its second reading in the House of Lords, and Lord Owen and Lord Hennessy’s amendment to take the most controversial parts into a Special Select Committee was not successful, failing by 34 votes.
This is far from the end though.
The Bill will now go into the House of Lords committee and report stages before its third reading and final vote in the Lords. This could take some time, as there will be a lot of debate on it, and a chance for further amendments to be brought forward before the next reading.
We’ll keep you informed on what’s happening, and what we can do about it next.
In the meantime, if you wrote to a Peer who replied and said they’d be voting for Lord Owen’s amendment, why not use the Adopt A Peer tool to write back and thank them for their support? You can find voting records on both yesterday’s amendments at Hansard (split over several pages).
Nye Bevan’s famous quote is getting a lot of airing today, but it really can’t be said often enough:
“The NHS will last as long as there are folk left with the faith to fight for it”
Comment made by Maureen Poole on Oct 14th 2011 at 8:13 am:
I just want to add my voice to those who are supporting Lord Owen and Lord Hennessey in their efforts to look after the original principles of our NHS. I don’t normally get involved in political issues of the day (perhaps I should !) but this is one of our core services and with all the cut backs that the majority of our citizens are enduring currently, lack of jobs across the board for our young people and an ageing population, we MUST stop the slip into privatisation for the NHS. I just do not believe Davin Cameron’s assertions that the huge changes will improve the quality of the service.
Comment made by helene stone on Feb 16th 2012 at 11:34 am:
The NHS is most definately at risk. It is the one institution set up when this country was broke after the war. Its purpose to look after the health of ordinary people who could not afford medical care,often women and children. People fought and died for a fairer society where those who were disadvantaged and unable to work were still able to receive medical care and a welfare safety net. This is a mark of a civilised society. Instead since Thatcher, and including New Labour, the NHS has been systematically prepared to be taken over by private healthcare providers. These companies many of them foreign private healthcae providers have been circling around the Governments often given unfair access to decision making while all the time the NHS has seen its funding cut, £20 billion in savings, what and where does this figure come from. I work in the NHS and it feels like cuts and is ccertainly cuts in front line staff as I have experienced. The NHS has been in the process of privatisation since Thatcher and the process now is being escalated. For the Tories the recession has been a God sent opportunity to escalate their attack on the remaining nationalised organisations.
Comment made by M on Feb 16th 2012 at 12:31 pm:
If we lose the NHS to privatisation, we lose some essence of Britishness. If we are unwilling to help those in need, what does this say about us as a nation?
I’m sick to death of Cameron talking about the better choice we’ll have once this bill is passed. Choice is great, yes…if you’re buying a sofa, but it is completely irrelevant in a healthcare setting. I want to know that I will get excellent care at any hospital that is free at the point of need. Competition and privatisation does not make for better standards, just look at out train network. Extortionate prices, unfathomable fares (when is off-peak?), dreadful standards, overcrowding. Also look at what competition has done to our high streets – big supermarkets have the monopoly whilst smaller, local businesses struggle and disappear (does any town centre need five Tesco Expresses?)
Why are the Tories so scared of state-ownership?
I don’t want to end up like America. It’s a nation of absolute myth. Of all the places I’ve travelled in the world, I’ve never seen such a vast chasm between the haves and have-nots, and they continually sniff at our socialist principles as if it was a big steaming pile. When you buy any insurance, there are clauses, terms, conditions, exclusions. Why on Earth would I want restrictions on my healthcare…’I'm sorry Mrs Jones, we can’t fix your broken arm because you didn’ pay your broken arm excess. And as for that nasty cut on your leg, if I can just draw your attention to clause 5.1, we couldn’t possibly stitch that up’, ‘but I’ve paid thousands of pounds for this policy!’
Who wants this for their future, honestly? No-one, not even the knee-jerk voters who welcomed the Tories in! I pay my taxes for the NHS, not some dubious war, or high speed b****y rail, or to clean out someone’s duck pond, or to build some olympic stadium that will be weed-covered in a year’s time. I pay my taxes for great honourable institutions like the NHS. Something we British should eternally be proud of and defend to the death!