Attack on NHS proves there is no cure for ignorance
NOTHING unites the UK more than an attack on our nation by an outsider.
And when it comes to bringing Brits together, no one can compete with Donald Trump.
Single-handedly, he has managed to create a movement of national identity with the continual outrage he provokes.
Whether it be his attack on London’s mayor with accusations he was not taking terror seriously, retweeting anti-Muslim videos posted by a British far-right party or accusing the UK of no longer being safe to visit, the US president has revived a spirit not seen in years.
But this week, Trump outtrumped himself with a withering attack on our NHS.
Minutes after watching his friend and flunky, Nigel Farage, appear on his favourite Fox and Friends TV show, he took to Twitter from his bed to lash out.
The former UKIP leader told American viewers: “The big problem we’ve got is a population crisis, caused by government policy on immigration. We just haven’t got enough hospitals, we haven’t got enough doctors, we haven’t got enough facilities.”
Soon after the interview, Trump launched his assault.
“The Democrats are pushing for Universal HealthCare while thousands of people are marching in the UK because their U system is going broke and not working,” he tweeted shortly after 7am.
“Dems want to greatly raise taxes for really bad and non-personal medical care. No thanks!”
Ill-informed, uneducated and clueless, Trump mistook Saturday’s march in London as a protest against the NHS.
It could not have been more different.
Of course, there are widespread concerns about the financial health of the NHS.
Britain’s ageing population, the rising cost of new technology and years of austerity, have contributed to notable pressures on the system.
Britain has also had, once again, a terrible winter flu season, and hospitals nationwide are struggling to cope with the spikes in demand.
But those 60,000 people who marched on Downing Street at the weekend could not have been more in support of the NHS nor more opposed to any move that would bring in a US-style privatised system.
For his part, Trump would do well to concentrate on his own healthcare system, that currently seems to be having seizure after seizure on the Congress floor.
His attack on the NHS came as the billionaire Republican continues his attempts to overturn his predecessor Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Congress recently repealed the unpopular requirement that most Americans carry health insurance or risk a tax penalty.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates some 13 million people will be robbed of their chance of affordable health insurance by 2027, taking the total of number of Americans without coverage to 41.1 million.
If Trump fully repeals ACA, more commonly known as Obamacare, the CBO reckons 23 million will opt out of their health insurance by 2026, as premiums rise, leaving the number of Americans without insurance standing at 51.1 million.
Trump’s tweet about Britain’s universal healthcare system – once said to be the closest thing that the British have to a national religion – shows how ignorant the man is.
His inability to understand tens of thousands of people marching because they love the NHS was typical of the Oval Office oaf.
I understand why Trump feels threatened by our health service when he himself denies decent care to tens of millions of Americans.
He must be petrified by the immense popularity of our system.
The NHS may be in need of some TLC right now, but it is you Mr President who is sick.