27 March 2020 — Novara Media
Covid-19 has forced the government to make drastic changes to the fundamental structure of the NHS, as the service struggles to cope.
Since the 1990s the UK’s healthcare provision has been subjected to increasing marketisation, in particular through the so-called internal market. Introduced by Margaret Thatcher, this system splits the NHS into purchasers and providers who must trade with one another.
3 March 2020 — Global Justice Now
Yesterday the government published its objectives for a trade deal with the US. As usual, the document makes a very general claim that the NHS and drug pricing will not be on the table in a trade deal with Donald Trump. But in fact, we know from last year’s leaks that the NHS and drug pricing have already been discussed in preliminary talks, and this document fails to rule out the major threats.
8 December 2019 — OurNHS
British officials dodged invitations to exclude the NHS from a US-UK trade deal. Not surprising, given how much public money already goes to the US healthcare industry.
Boris Johnson and Donald Trump meeting in Watford in December 2019
Michael Kappeler/DPA/PA Images
Facing opposition claims that it will ‘sell off the NHS to the Americans’ after Brexit, the Conservatives have been eager to reassure us. Quizzed on the threat to the NHS of a US-UK trade deal, and on Labour’s publication of leaked notes of the trade talks so far, former health secretary Jeremy Hunt told the ‘Today’ programme earlier this week:
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31 December 2019 — WSWS
The National Health Service (NHS) faces collapse after decades of underfunding, staffing cuts and privatisation.
Even before the onset of the NHS’s now-annual “winter crisis,” a heightened expression of a year-round crisis, senior doctors’ representatives warned that the health service was “on its knees.”
27 September 2019 — OurNHS
The end of NHS privatisation would appear – once again – to have been greatly exaggerated. In fact, things could be about to get considerably worse…
Prime Minister Boris Johnson meets staff during a visit to The Princess Alexandra hospital in Essex, September 27 2019 | Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire/PA Images
7 December 2019 — Off Guardian
Last week (November 27th), at a press conference, Jeremy Corbyn unveiled dozens of leaked documents. Documents showing that Boris Johnson – and the Tories in general – are lying when they say there are no plans to open up the NHS to US trade.
7 December 2019 — John Pilger
29 November 2019 — Novara Media
This week Corbyn revealed un-redacted trade documents detailing talks between the Conservative government and the Trump administration between 2016 – now. He argued they prove the NHS is indeed up for sale, contradicting Boris Johnson. We asked two medical doctors to explain the papers. Featuring Dr Rita Issa and Dr Timesh Pillay.
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8 November 2019 — John Pilger
The new John Pilger film, The Dirty War on the NHS, will be released in cinemas in the UK on 1 December and broadcast on the ITV Network on 17 December.
The film’s launch will straddle an extraordinary period in Britain, especially an election campaign which, for the first time for years, offers voters a genuine choice. The film’s theme, the privatisation and destruction of the NHS, is already a major election issue.
“The Dirty War,” says Pilger at the beginning of the film, “is about democracy. Above all, it is a warning.”
For screenings and tickets, go to www.thedirtywaronnhs.com
7 November 2019 — LSE Politics and Policy – True Publica
Political parties are making all sorts of claims to save the NHS from its current financial strangulation and the privatisation drive, mainly because a general election is due and the NHS is inevitably used a political football. This report really is quite explosive, not least because the general public has been ‘hoodwinked’ into believing that only 7 per cent of the NHS budget is spent on private contractors. However, are claims of eradicating privatisation unachievable given its current scale and depth?
1 October 2019 — True Publica
The Guardian reported last week that Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock plan to “rein in” NHS privatisation in a new NHS Bill to be published next month. NHS England (NHSE) has released a document detailing “22 key changes it believes will be included” in such a bill, and the Guardian tells us their proposals are “likely” to be accepted by government.
Whether any of this will actually happen, given the current level of political uncertainty, is a moot point, of course.
22 August 2019 — True Publica
By TruePublica: The Institute for Economic Affairs is renowned for being the most powerful and influential think tank in Britain. Modelled around a right-wing American opaque so-called ‘institute’ it is littered with dodgy donors and surrounded by accusations of dark money interests. Its assaults on public health initiatives, given its real motivations, should be a warning of what might come under a UK/US trade deal and we should be worried if we value Britain’s most revered public institution – the NHS under a Boris Johnson government.
