Tuesday, February 07, 2012

Tom Watson on the NHS and the Drop the Bill campaign

Got this mailshot for MP Tom Watson

Ed Miliband calls really early. Too early. These days I have to set my alarm for 6am in order to be fully awake before he starts chasing me.

Before Ed's calls, I listen to the depressing daily news on the Today programme. Unemployment sky rocketing, the economy flat-lining, more arrests at News International. By the time Ed rings I'm usually ready to explode.


The final straw came at 6.54am last Friday morning.

Interviewed on Today, Clare Gerada, the Chair of the Royal College of GPs, was asked about Lansley's Health Bill. I don't know Clare Gerada, but she was authoritative, calm, thorough, and therefore devastating in her analysis.


As the first coffee of the day was brewing, Clare patiently said the following words:


"I think the essence is this Bill is a burden. It makes no sense. It’s incoherent to anybody other than the lawyers. It won’t deal with the big issues that we have to deal with such as the aging population and dementia. It will result in a very expensive health service and it will also result in a health service that certainly will never match the health service that we have at the moment or at least had 12 months ago."


I couldn't stomach any more of this miserable truth about Cameron, Osborne and Lansley's Britain. I'm sick of starting every day like this. I re-tuned to Smooth Radio.

But re-tuning the radio isn't enough. What makes us Labour is that we don't just look away. We've got to stop them. We've got to stop this Bill. It really will wreck the NHS in a way that hasn't been fully understood. It's a fight that patients can't afford for us to lose.

Cameron is determined to force these measures through. To defeat him, we have to build a coalition against the Bill that has never been seen before.


Sign the Drop the Bill petition here

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