Our NHS is on its knees. Parts of it are now so embroiled in profiteers’ contracts, or tied up in debts as a result of past “public private partnerships” that politicians are able to get away with saying reinstatement is impossible.

Difficult it may be, but reinstatement is vital. People are already dying, and suffering unnecessarily, because of the gaping holes in NHS coverage of our health. The reason for this emergency call-out is that everyone’s pretty sure Labour are going to win this election, and quite a lot of people are sure Labour are better than the Tories – well, maybe they are over all but there is one particularly dangerous problem that we need to solve right now, and we need people to believe that we can do it.

You bet they are – Streeting, Starmer, Reeves — all the key figures in Starmer’s would-be government have interests in private health care. They are ambitious beyond politics, and they are here to finish off the Heist. I have seen people around social media parroting Streeting’s weasel words – “oh, the NHS is in such trouble we’ll need years of private ‘help’ to get things running properly again.”

That is the trap that could kill our NHS for good, and we can stop it, if we act now.

Emergency call to action number one

Please keep talking to people about this — it’s the private ‘help’, those ‘partnerships’ brought us that put the NHS in hock in the first place and another few years of that will mean there’s nothing left that we actually own, or have any rights to use.

We simply cannot let that happen. We need everyone on the case throughout this election — at hustings, at street events, in your blog or your social media, please keep reminding people — private ‘help’ costs a LOT of money. Giving the NHS more private ‘help’ of the kind Streeting is planning is what will cause the final death-blow. Do not let that mendacious idea embed itself in Labour’s campaign.

Emergency call to action number two

If we’re going to use Labour to get the Tories out, we need a strong opposition. Obviously, the Tories aren’t it. That’s why people are so interested in independents and small parties this year. From the perspective of saving the NHS, the most important indie out there is probably Leanne Mohamad, because she’s the one who’s actually in with quite a decent chance of beating Wes Streeting, Starmer’s NHS privateer-in-chief.

Another likely option is Andrew Feinstein in Starmer’s own constituency. He was well known before the election campaign started, and is an experienced politician with an honourable track record…

Wherever you are in the UK, please do everything you can to support those two. It’s not going to be easy for independents to break the mould, so it’s worth all of us adding our energy to their campaigns – by visiting the constituency to help out, by donating to their campaigns or by spreading the news via social media and blogs of who they are and what they stand for. Anything you can think of to help them, please do.

And finally, back home

We all need to use our heads in our own constituencies. the trickiest problem we face is the plethora of independents. If we all just choose our favourites (or our best friends) the opposition vote will be scattered and lost. We need to work out which (of the sane) independents have the best chance of winning.

In my constituency, I have to decide between Nick Davies, who is standing with the CPB – their manifesto is very strong on the NHS — and Phil Colley, who’s there first and foremost as an anti-genocide candidate – another vital issue – but he’s also good on the dangers of privatisation so I need to watch the polls, and go with the most likely of those two.

Click here for the main points of the CPB manifesto

Click here to hear Phil Colley’s pitch

I hope enough people across the country are thinking that way — and if you are, please do remember the indies need a big push to break through. Please help to publicise the likely ones any way you can think of, both in your own constituency and anywhere else you see a likely looking candidate. Let’s resolve to do at least one thing nationally, and one locally, every day of this campaign. For example, my favourite discovery yesterday was Alison Teal up in Sheffield. If you have a spare fiver, you could do a lot worse than dropping it into her election crowdfunder…

You know, the Tories are truly sunk, with their troops further depleted by the threat from the even farther right. Knowing that, if the hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic campaigners for a ‘better, kinder politics’ that we had a few years ago all throw their energy and imagination behind the likeliest indies they can find, we might just win ourselves a hung parliament and/or a Labour administration with a good, strong, independent opposition.

We could do a heck of a lot worse than that — and believe me, losing our NHS to profiteers like Streeting really is a heck of a lot worse. If you don’t know how bad that could be, pick up a copy of Harry’s Last Stand, and remind youself just what life is going to be like when our NHS is gone.

This truly is an emergency. Please act on it – today, and every day. Let’s really make July 4th Independents’ Day.

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Kay

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