Theresa May's Easter meditations let her to thoughts of a triumphant Tory Ascension to a landslide election victory. But things haven't quite worked out like this. Corbyn's defiance and gathering support, reinforced by the way that other parties have plugged not just the plight of the NHS but of all public services, have forced May into Fortress Brexit.
It is vital to keep public attention on to the financial and staffing crises facing the NHS. Make no mistake, if the Conservatives achieve a substantial majority they will tell Simon Stevens to get on with his Forward View, devised at Davos with the help of his previous employers United Healthcare, and deliver a reduced but supposedly more efficient NHS which will meet his financial targets. Rationing and closures will increase apace as the unaccountable Sustainability and Transformation Plans take hold, imposed by Boards to which local CCGs have ceded power, even though they are the organisations which are currently statutorily responsible for ensuring our health care.
Allthough none of the parties are promising resource to the level which NHS providers are asking for, the Conservatives offer the least and their u-turns on social care betray the fact that few of them have any actual idea about public services and those who use them. Jeremy Hunt told Sky News that more funding for the NHS depended on a good Brexit deal. So where is his commitment? There may not be an NHS by that time on Tory levels of resourcing. Labour offers the most, but only if it can raise the money not just for the NHS but for its other promises as it seeks to undo some of the misery imposed by the Conservatives and their Coalition predecessors. The Greens offer principled opposition and go further than Labour in seeking to undo current 'directions of travel' such as the Sustainability and Transformation Plans but are short on practical proposals.
SSONHS supporters include members of electorally competing parties as well as those who are non-aligned or support other groups. We don't therefore have a specific electoral line but we urge supporters, young and old, to vote for the NHS. Remember also that if you are in what seems like a safe seat, your vote is still important in terms of turnout. The fact that Trump lost the popular vote to Clinton, despite winning in the electoral college, is still something which gives encouragement to all those who want to see him reined in.
We are a grassroots movement comprising people from all walks of life who are, or will be affected by the government’s austerity measures and spending cuts to NHS Services across England. We also strongly oppose the creeping privatisation of the NHS by successive governments. Privatisation = Profit not Good Patient Care