NHS far too important to be taken away

LAST week, the Health and Care Bill was furiously debated in the Commons.

One writer has suggested that if the Tories really secretly intended to privatise the NHS, they would have done it by now.

Parts of the NHS have already been surreptitiously privatised.

Bell Ribeiro-addy MP has claimed this Bill “rolls out the red carpet for private companies, ramps up the Government’s long-standing attempts to privatise the NHS”.

Another Labour MP, Margaret Greenwood, said: “As we know, the Bill is also about privatisation.”

What is wrong with these arguments is that even the Conservatives know how sensitive the issue is.

Back in the early 1990s, it was fairly easy to abolish the mental hospitals, with little or no real protest, but the NHS is the “jewel in our crown”.

Millions died fighting the Nazis. Before that, politicians declared “A land fit for heroes” at the end of the First World War.

Just 21 years later, we were at war again with Nazi Germany. The great promise that evolved out of the last war was the inception of the welfare state.

There have been many attempts to tinker with it and some areas have been furtively privatised.

Even now people have to pay for dental services, etc.

Many backbench Tory MPS know that this area is a very sensitive one and sacred to the British public.

While they can get away with many things, if the Conservatives are really serious about privatising the NHS, they also know this would be a huge vote loser for the Tory Party.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson might have made a bungling hash out of his recent speeches – especially to the CBI, with allusions to Peppa Pig.

However, I think even he understands any attempt to secretly privatise the NHS would provoke a massive, humiliating, disaster for him and his party.

This is one blunder I’m sure he will try to avoid. If he doesn’t avoid it, we’ll know he is suicidal and plain nuts.

The Tories are in a real mess at the moment, failing to deliver on many of their election promises.

Social care, rail upgrades, low taxes and more, all feature on the list of disappointments.

They still haven’t managed to fulfil what maybe their secret evil plan to privatise the NHS, because they know how sacred it is to the British public.

It would be suicide for the Tory Party.

As we all had a minute’s silence and laid wreaths on November 11, we were remembering all those men and women who gave their lives so that we could enjoy a better, safer and more civilised future.

One outcome of that was the welfare state and at its core lies the NHS.

So, let’s remember the motto: “Hands off the NHS” or face massive defeat in the polls. So is it a redherring just a diversion?

Only time will tell. One thing is certain The Health and Care Bill will be a contentious area that will lead to much heated debate as it is truly controversial and dangerous to the health of the British people.

Peter Asquith-cowen,

Anlaby.