Cornwall Lib Dem voters feel “betrayed” over Health Bill

News from Cornwall Labour

Cornwall Lib Dem voters feel “betrayed” over Health Bill

By Cornwall Labour ⋅ March 13, 2012 ⋅ Post a comment

Time is running out for the NHS as we know it. Cornwall Labour is urging everyone to join our fight against the Coalition’s NHS Reform Bill, which is nearing the end of its passage through Parliament. Despite more than half a million petition signatures, the vote at Lib Dem party conference and the opposition of health professionals, Nick Clegg and his MPs continue their support for the Bill.

Jude Robinson, Labour Councillor for Camborne North, said: “People who supported Lib Dems in the past are telling us how betrayed they feel by broken promises and u-turns on policy. Now the Lib Dem leadership is supporting the Tories’ long held desire to privatise our NHS against the advice of doctors, nurses, professional health organisations and their own activists.

“The Labour Party in Cornwall is working hard , collecting petition signatures, delivering leaflets and opposing the Coalition plans. We urge everyone who cares about the principles of our NHS to join us now in trying to stop the Bill. Disappointed Lib Dems are welcome to come and work with us.

“Private healthcare companies have been pouring money into the coffers of the Lib Dems and Tories because they want this change and they know private healthcare will benefit. Labour knows our NHS values are about people not profit.”

The Bill reduces the power and responsibility of the Secretary of State for Health to ensure that healthcare is provided. This means that if the Clinical Commissioning groups decide not to provide some services, there will be no alternative for people except to pay – if they can.

The Bill makes the NHS subject to EU competition law. The Lib Dems have claimed that competition will only be about quality – the law says otherwise and competition in the NHS will be have to be based on the lowest price.

Billions of pounds are being spent on redundancies and reorganisation. For Cornwall, this means the current commissioning group (the Primary Care Trust) being disbanded and reformed with a different name, some different people and a price tag of more than £30 million: a complete waste of money while funding is failing to meet extra demands and inflation.

Labour’s petition to Drop the Bill is here and it is easy to join our party online or locally.

Independent organisation 38 Degrees is also petitioning against the Bill.

Other news from Cornwall Labour