UK
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Last chance to address the hospital closure clause By Philip Hunt
The hospital closure clause returns for its final stages in the Lords on 7 May. Lord Phil Hunt writes here about the safeguards he is trying to introduce by amendment. Continue reading
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UK: Call the Midwife – while we still have one
Four out of five hopsitals are short of midwives, a new investigation has found. Funding cuts mean the situation is “getting worse, not better”, according to midwife leaders. Continue reading
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Will Labour defend the NHS from the EU/US trade deal? By Linda Kaucher
Andy Burnham and John Healey’s statments on the risks to the NHS of the trade deal between the EU and the US seem at odds. Labour should be speaking clearly for the NHS. There is increasingly informed public concern about the relationship between the NHS and the huge US/EU ‘free trade’ agreement, the Transatlantic Trade… Continue reading
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A moment of honesty is required – New Labour began the dismantling of our NHS By Kailash Chand
It is universally accepted that the creation of the National Health Service is the single greatest achievement of the Labour party. The neglect of the NHS was a principal contributor to the downfall of the last Conservative Government and it was a major issue that helped New Labour mobilise mass political support for a landslide… Continue reading
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Patients occupy threatened mental health clinic, some signs of victory? By Steve Sweeney
A seven-week occupation of a Cambridge NHS mental health clinic in Britain threatened with closure is having more success than past campaigning – is this the way forward? Continue reading
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Family doctor services “under severe threat of extinction” in Britain By Mark Blackwood
RCGP president Dr. Maureen Baker told the Guardian that the GP health care service, which is the bedrock of the National Health Service (NHS) and accounts for 90 percent of all patient contact is “in crisis”. “GPs and practice nurses can’t keep doing more for less now that funding for general practice in England has… Continue reading
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Labour and UK Independence Party debate in Manchester By Julie Hyland and Paul Mitchell
Claims that the European Union (EU) represents a mechanism for overcoming the national antagonisms that twice in the twentieth century plunged the Europe into war are a fraud. Draconian austerity measures in country after country, coupled with its utilisation of the Western-backed putsch in Kiev to instigate war-mongering against Russia, prove that the EU is… Continue reading
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The right-wing nationalism of the United Kingdom Independence Party By Jordan Shilton
Over the last months there has been a concerted media campaign to promote the anti-immigrant and nationalist policies of UKIP as the expression of popular sentiment. Despite the party not having a single representative in parliament, UKIP leader Nigel Farage was given two prime television spots to supposedly debate the pros and cons of the… Continue reading
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NHS Foundation Trusts – a democratic failure? By Richard Berry
10 years ago Alan Milburn launched the first Foundation Trusts. But despite his rhetoric of ‘greater local control’ the reality is apathy and powerlessness. Is it time for a different approach? Continue reading
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Nuffield Trust report exposes Tory lies on Welsh NHS By Tony Beddow
David Cameron claimed last week that the Welsh border was “the dividing line between life and death”. A new Nuffield Trust report shows such rhetoric is dishonest. In fact a thorough comparison of the UK health systems – published earlier that day by the independent Nuffield Trust – showed that overall, NHS Wales compares well. Continue reading
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The Guardian’s Zoe Williams tries to rehabilitate Tony Blair By Julie Hyland
“Stop calling Tony Blair a war criminal. The left should be proud of his record”, implored journalist Zoe Williams in the Guardian last week. The occasion for Williams’ plea was an article by the former Labour prime minister for the Guardian on the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, along with comments Blair made on… Continue reading
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NHS racism: You can’t tackle a problem if you deny it exists, Earl Howe By Roger Kline
Discrimination against ethnic minority NHS staff is rife – and it’s bad for patient care too. The author of a major new report here reveals how the government is misleading parliament by claiming the problem is being addressed. Continue reading
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Kings Fund suggests NHS fees – but is it really ‘independent’? By Gary Walker
The question of NHS ‘affordability’ is used by think tanks and politicians to browbeat us into accepting regressive changes that suit the few, not the many. Better options to save money are ignored. Continue reading
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“If Stones Could Weep”: Syria, Blair’s Plans and an Archbishop’s Son By Felicity Arbuthnot
Not only is Middle East “Peace Envoy”, Catholic convert and Butcher of Baghdad, Tony Blair gunning for another overthrow and mass destruction in Syria, he has recruited the son of an Archbishop to help him. Continue reading
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Britain’s Dirty Drone Secret
On Monday the House of Lords will debate Clause 64 of the Immigration Bill. If passed this Clause will allow the Home Secretary to remove citizenship from British citizens, regardless of whether this may render them stateless. Continue reading
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Don’t believe the hype – the Welsh NHS has much to teach England By Julian Tudor-Hart
Cameron this week labelled the Welsh NHS ‘a scandal’. But this is largely a propaganda war, designed to discredit the non-privatised path the Welsh have taken. The Welsh created the NHS, modeled on miners’ mutual aid schemes. They have so far strongly resisted attempts to return healthcare to market competition. Since devolution a new generation… Continue reading
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#IPCCFail – the police complaints watchdog’s “decade of failure” By Kevin Blowe
It’s ten years since the Independent Police Complaints Commission was founded, and they’ve utterly failed. Tuesday was the tenth anniversary of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), set up in 2004 to replace another public body, the Police Complaints Authority, which had been wholly discredited by its failures during the 1990s. Continue reading
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Series of scandals shakes public trust in the police By Ben Gliniecki
A recent report by the Inspectorate of the Constabulary (HMIC) announced that public trust in the police has been severely shaken by the long list of scandals that have been revealed in recent months. Clearly someone at HMIC is being paid a large salary to say things that everybody else already knows. The working class… Continue reading
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Barton Moss: policing in the absence of democracy By David Cullen
Violence has been a running theme within the policing of anti-fracking protests at Barton Moss. Individual officers are acting with impunity. Is this reflective of a policing strategy seeking to disrupt the protests on behalf of vested interests? Continue reading
