Last chances to stop the Bill

Cameron and Lansley seem to have made the passage of the Bill a matter of saving face - at the expense of the most popular public service in the country, and for that matter at the expense of our future health.

Doctors' organisations are now beginning to queue up for urging that the Bill be dropped and public opinion is getting more strongly against it.  Nigel Crisp, a moderniser in his time as head of the NHS under Blair, has called it a confused and confusing mess. Tower Hamlets Clinical Commissioning Group has broken ranks and written to Cameron urging him to drop the Bill.  We have asked Sheffield CCG if it will follow.

All is still to play for even if time is getting tight.  Take whatever action you can either via the links to 38 degrees at the top of this blog, or by taking part in events and demonstrating your opposition more publicly.

Keeping up the public pressure - sign the epetition

We supported the protest outside the House of Lords as debate on the report stage of the Health and Social Care Bill began.  Most people in the protest were from London but there were a few from Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester.  Diane Abbott and a couple of Labour colleagues came over to hold a banner for a time and there was reasonable coverage on BBC national news.  Nobody knows how things will develop.  The main thing is to keep up public pressure as Cameron, having had no clue at the beginning of all this what the effect of Lansley's Bill would be, seems to be beginning to panic.  They are still sticking to the line that the Bill must be passed but more and more people are telling him that what a disaster it is.  The only trouble is that even the Plan B currently being canvassed just suggests a different way of delivering cuts.

We expect 38 degrees to mobilise something quite soon and in the meantime are plugging the epetition:   http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/22670.   
Any other events which draw attention to the feeling against the Bill will surely help - including the Yorkshire TUC protest against the cuts on Saturday 25th February in Leeds.

Outside Sheffield Town Hall on Saturday, there was still plenty of support - although Saturday shoppers are not as numerous as they used to be!