The tractor of Liberalism demolishes the blue bales of Tory privilege.
From BBC News:
Speaking ahead of the launch, Mr Davey said: "People are having to wait hours for an ambulance, weeks for a GP appointment or months for urgent cancer treatment as the NHS crisis spirals out of control.
"The local elections in May will be the final chance before the next general election to send a message that enough is enough.
"People are turning to the Liberal Democrats because they know we work hard for our communities, we hear your concerns, and we never take you for granted."
What powers do local councillors have when and if elected to make changes to the NHS ?
ReplyDeleteIt's to "send a message" innit.
ReplyDeleteI'd be in favour of local authorities having more responsibility for health, provided they had the funds to cope with it. The great advances in our health owed more to public health measures than than they did to better drugs or surgery.
It would also restore a democratic element to the NHS, which has been lacking since Blair's government abolished community health councils.
The clinics where I went as a child in the 1960s for immunisations and eye tests were all local government foundations: administered by Richmond upon Thames and mentioned in the Middlesex County Council minutes at least twenty years before. Likewise Harefield hospital: it is now internationally renowned for heart surgery, but one glance at the buildings shows them to be the work of the Middlesex county architect WT Curtis. What progress have the years given us?
ReplyDeleteI am impressed to see that Sir Ed Davey's gimmick has prompted a discussion between Tom and David about the NHS/Local Government interface ... all I could think was that he was trying to remind people of the Tractor Porn Scandal. But I suppose that proves that other people have higher political ideals than I do.
ReplyDelete