THERE was a lively 400-strong lobby of Parliament organised by the Unite trade union yesterday afternoon to ‘Save Our NHS’ and ‘Stop the Cuts’ being carried out by the Labour government.
Speaking at the rally Sharon Graham, the Unite general secretary, said: ‘Despite all the warm words, the NHS is under attack in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
‘In England alone there are well over 100,000 vacancies. We know what the Tories did to the NHS but I want to tell Prime Minister Keir Starmer you are in charge of the Labour government and you are doing the same thing with cuts and privatisation.
‘We are being driven back to a time as it was before the NHS came into being where only the very rich can afford to get treatment. That is why we support all NHS workers on strike. We must defend the vital NHS.’
Nick Bailey, NHS National Officer for Unite said: ‘Before the Labour government came in, in July 2024 we had a Tory government that made huge cuts. Many working people thought that the Labour government would turn around the cuts and reinvest in the NHS. But what has happened?
‘The cuts continue, workers, cannot get a decent pay deal.
‘This government is cutting bodies like NHS England meaning hundreds of thousands of jobs will go.
‘They claim that cutting non clinical jobs will some how change the NHS for the better, this is nonsense. All NHS workers are needed. Privateers that are brought in to run services are not capable of doing that as they put profits before the care of people.’
Dave Ward, Rep for Unite, Nottingham branch, said: ‘In the East Midlands mental health services are being cut.
‘There is a specialist mental health branch that is being closed down. This effects thousands of users.
‘The East Midlands NHS Trust claims that no jobs are going at the unit but this is a lie. 15 psycholgists are losing their jobs and other workers are being redeployed away from the area.
‘The Health Secretary Wes Streeting must immediately stop this decision from going forward.’
