If this election was on just the one issue of the NHS then the Conservatives would not have a hope in hell of winning. Their spurious promise of forty new hospitals has been shown to be an outright lie, as the figure allocated is approx £100 million to get some planning ideas off the ground now, with future investment to build a handful of new ones and rebuild (refurbish?) a few more over the next ten years. It’s an embarrassing election scam to perpetrate on the voting population. As part of a large disabled community I feel that Johnson and co are skating on thin ice by trying to trick us into thinking that they intend to vastly improve the NHS. My message to all politicians is …. “You can exaggerate and try to mislead me on a whole raft of policy promises and I will expect that because you are politicians, and it’s your usual way of doing things …. but …. don’t ever lie to me about your plans for my (and others) future healthcare and wellbeing …. It’s of vital importance to me, in fact it could be a matter of life and death”. Labour’s leadership worry the hell out of me, but at least they’ve had the guts to tell us bluntly how many billions of pounds worth of investment the NHS needs in order to get it functioning properly again. They also say that they’re prepared to borrow hugely to make this happen.
Pops , we are alI entitled to an opinion of course, and i agree that if the election was on one point only ie the NHS, then years & years of weaponising the NHS by Labour would undoubtedly pay off, irrespective of Corbyn snd Militant Tendency/ Momentum, and the truth!
Perception counts and the Labour lie over privatisation and underfunding has been repeated enough for sufficient numbers of voters to believe it.
However, lost in all of this will be the truth, because let’s all be absolutely clear here, the NHS is not underfunded – NHS spending has risen from £78 billion, in 2006 to some £126billion + this year , and it has been rising at a greater rate in the last few years than it ever has before, nor is it being privatised, it will always be free .
Just simply throwing good money at it , much of which is then wasted through inefficiency , is not the answer, and neither is constant interference in the management/ operation and reorganisation of the service.
Privatisation, immigration, funding, junior doctors , Small pay rises etc etc etc, seems to be the story of the modern NHS, and unfortunately, getting lost in alł of this ‘argy bargy’ is the patient!
Because let’s not forget, the NHS was established as a service for ‘patients’ I.e . To provide free healthcare to those in need, and not , repeat not , as’ a career path for staff’, medical or otherwise, and certainly not something to be used by politicians & trade unions alike, to gain political points.
It It is sad to see ,otherwise quite intelligent. people with a mental block when it comes to the NHS, and shutting out the truth, which for the sake of the patient & future healthcare, is that it has to change, it has to be more efficient, it has to be cost effective , it has to be rid of restrictive practices, and it has to be brought into the 21st. century, and this necessity applies whether it’s a Tory or a Labour minister in charge.
It is not ‘heaven ‘ or the ‘garden of Eden’ and Doctors are not ‘Gods or Nurses ‘Angels’ it is a service provider with highly educated, well trained and compassionate staff, & it is paid for by taxes, & not just ‘income ‘ tax, and therefore should be accountable, & sentiment should not enter into the equation!
We can be eternally grateful for the care provided to us in our time of need, as I truly am, but that shouldn’t cloud our judgement and just give in to every demand for more money.
It is also very ‘odd’ to my way of thinking that people say ‘ I’m prepared to pay more in taxes or even a bit upfront’ in order to get a better service, but baulk at the idea of making efficiency savings !
As i have said before, Corbyn’s Marxist policies will of course give more to those on lower incomes and perhaps a lot more to those on benefits, but bribery tends to not last very long, with the ‘chickens coming home to roost’, and the bribes and benefit increases will only be short term – his declared policies and vast overspending will undoubtedly wreck the economy and bankrupt this country, and the sacrifices made by many over the past nine years of austerity ( which were caused by his party’s economic incompetence in the first place ) will all be a complete waste, and new generations will begin to pay for his Cloud Cuckoo Land policies – and don’t forget Mr Corbyn cannot carry out the role of Prime Minister if he will not promise to protect the U.K.