The air is awash with ghosts
as another year turns dead
beyond the darkness of the world
time to lay it all to rest
let light call, beyond the fear and dread
poetry and song, dreams that give peace of mind
as time rumbles on with uncertainty
the treasure of friendship will forever be kind
in our gardens flowers will flourish
memories not forsaken, delivering strength
beyond the politicians emptiness, that break us down
lets your ears and heart be immersed with music
that kisses the soul, and enlivens the tonque
remembering smiles that lifted us, be guided by love
we will continue to rise up, patch up the hurt
our words still ever so clear, solid under every morn
a beautiful resistance that keeps on calling
the taste of truth will fill our bellies
as we ponder which paths to pursue
travelling on the haunted waves
let the wealth of our combined afflictions
soak up like a sponge, the living waters
generating channels that nurture sustenance
with earnest mischief in this game of chance
dancing undeterred with fervent belief.
( Blwyddyn Newydd Da / Happy New Year Heddwch/Peace.)
It's become increasingly clear to many that the honours system is anachronistic and filled with irrelevant cronyism that is constantly stained with controversy. Stretching right back to Norman times, honours were historically
bestowed for wartime bravery or to monied aristocrats. In 1917 George V
invented the Order of the British Empire to honour everyday
citizens, particularly those in non-combative roles during World War
One, honours for celebrities followed.
The British government’s website declares “the honours system
recognises people who have made achievements in public life and have
committed themselves to serving and helping Britain”. Those fit to receive a knighthood, MBE or OBE should also “have made
life better for other people or be outstanding at what they do” https://www.gov.uk/honours
Now, Queen's Honours are dished out twice a year - to approximately 3,000 people in total, names from the world of showbiz, sport and politics have recently been announced Though there are some worthy recipients, more and more people are becoming disillusioned with the current system as it is seen as being used as a political pay off, and the list of those who have been awarded honours only to be exposed as being unworthy of anyones admiration keeps getting longer.
It is really
hard as hell to see how the following qualified or see what they had done to deserve an award. Child abusers like Jimmy Saville and Liberal politician Cyril Smith were both given knighthoods by the Queen on the advice of the Uk Prime Minister, alongside rogue businessmen like Fred Goodwin and Philip Green, who went on to destroy their companies through their greed. The likes of cricketer Geoffrey Boycott too who was convicted of domestic abuse of his partner and now it's been announced that former leader of the Conservatives, architect of controversial Universal Credit system and of death and misery Iain Duncan Smith MP is going to be given one too by Boris Johnson. It was his reforms and total incompetence at the DWP that saw thousands of vulnerable and disabled people die, and cruelly suffer. The announcement has sparked a furious backlash, with a petition, entitled 'Iain Duncan Smith should not receive a Knighthood' already having been signed by 150,000 people, in it he is labelled as "responsible for some of the cruellest most extreme welfare reforms this country has ever seen"' https://www.change.org/p/uk-government-and-parliament-we-object-to-iain-duncan-smith-receiving-a-knighthood
Opposition parties said it "beggared belief" that someone whose policies had caused so much distress should be honorued in this way. Labour's Lisa Nandy said it was a "disgraceful decision by Boris Johnson to reward a legacy of cruelty and failure",
Writing on Twitter, she added, "This regime deliberately removed the safety net. It stripped people of their dignity. There is no honour in that."
The Labour MSP Neil Findlay has submitted a motion to the Scottish Parliament calling for the honours system to be scrapped. His motion described the honours systemas "completely discredited" and Duncan Smiths knighthood "an award for services to the Tory party and nothing else."
Many critics see the whole honours system, including appointments to the bloated
unelected House of Lords, as an affront to democracy. In his six years
as Prime Minister David Cameron stuffed unelected cronies into the House
of Lords at a faster rate than any Prime Minister in history. He
thoroughly deserved his ‘Dodgy Dave’ nickname. He stuffed so many
establishment insiders into the unelected upper house that the House of
Lords is now the second biggest legislative chamber on earth, second
only to the Chinese parliament. The fact a Chamber of 800 failed
politicians, retired Bishops and Archbishops, assorted do-gooders from
the professions and 92 Hereditary Peers, who are there because of birth
right, have the ability to delay and amend laws is just unacceptable
and makes a mockery of ‘British democracy’.
There are thousands of incredible ordinary people who go through life caring for others,,that we should be grateful to, our healthcare professionals, our educators and those involved in voluntary organisations who enrich our society, and many other deserving recipients who have done good work in their communities, who never appear on the radar of the political administrators who prepare honours lists, and .subsequently go without any kind of official reward. Thus the honours list is too narrow and fails to recognize the achievements of many while rewarding a select few.
A number of well-known individuals have refused an honour for a
variety of reasons, whether political, personal, or because they did not
feel it was appropriate. For example Ken Loach the film director, is one of a very
honourable group of individuals who have turned down a discreditable
British bauble. He told the Radio Times in March 2001: “It’s all the things I think are despicable: patronage,
deferring to the monarchy and the name of the British Empire, which is a
monument of exploitation and conquest.
“I turned down the OBE because it’s not a club you want to join when you look at the villains who’ve got it”http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1217962.stm. and Benjamin Zephaniah, the celebrated black British poet, was similarly
strident in 2003 when he referred to why he turned down a British Honour
offered by war criminal PM Tony Blair: “Me? I thought, OBE me? Up yours, I thought. I get angry when
I hear the word ’empire’; it reminds me of slavery, it reminds me of
thousands of years of brutality, it reminds me of how my foremothers
were raped and my forefathers brutalised.”
“My obsession is about the future and the political rights of
all people. Benjamin Zephaniah OBE – no way Mr Blair, no way Mrs Queen.
I am profoundly anti-Empire” https://web.archive.org/web/20100616162002/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/benjamin-zephaniah-declines-an-obe-in-protest-against-colonialism-737107.html.
Personally the distasteful honours system is a shame on our country. greatly discredited, problematic,and not fit for purpose, yet what is extraordinary, is the British public’s continuing acceptance of it all, as 2019 draws to a close and 2020 approaches is it not time for us to consider that this outdated and ultimately archaic and devalued relic of our country’s colonial past, be scrapped, or at the very least we could get rid of the life peerages and knighthoods, because they smack of elitism. and replace the current system with a people's panel recognising and honouring only conspicuous public service and sacrifice and those that are truly deserving. Remember to daily honour too all that you consider worthy, our mothers, the peacemakers and advocates of positive change, that truly make a difference to our lives.
Let me introduce you
to a beautiful presence
my dear mother Sheila
daughter of a violin playing miner
born in Ton Pentre, Cwm Rhondda,
who taught me to read and write
the joys of books and poetry
prompting me to question everything
listened when things went awry
delivered often with glad assurance
asked for nothing in return
fierce, proud, defiant but gentle
wrapped now strongly in hearts
that can never be taken or stolen
she opened windows, points of consciousness
allowed us to accept life's frustrations
gave us reasons to try and always dispense care
delivered the most important lesson of all
love that keeps on releasing
the weight and depths
that cannot be scaled
I bless her for all she gave
it has served me so well
my allegiance is forever
this my simple way of homage
in endless sky and eternal seas
when the wind blows wild
in days and nights of silence
may she forever rest in peace.
It's come round again, the time of year when I usually feel like some kind of traitor, because I don't enter into the spirit of things. It's not that I'm a total misery guts, I like it if it snows, but that's about it,I just don't get this time of the year. There are the usual suspects, the seasonal fakery, the waste of paper, the misery that explodes , and the annual artificial need to guzzle and consume vast amounts, whilst people commodify and profiteer from our faked jollity. Santa the manufactured symbol that resides right next to the sick heart of capitalism and consumerism, christmas at the foodbank the new order of the day. Tolerating neighbours stupid light displays and crappy Christmas carols. Reflecting on life and loss in general. The list goes on and bloody on.
We sing about peace and good
will, while people caught up in war zones, and countries are fractured by division. Our natural impulse is to give, share and support others, feelings of
solidarity and mutual aid, these qualities find their form in the midwinter festival
that in this part of the world, is now known as Christmas.Today, as the tentacles of the capitalist market reach into every part
of our lives, those feelings are commodified, as we are encouraged to pay
for the convenience of expressing our feelings for our fellow beings
through gift giving. We fret about our purchases, are they good enough?
Will the person like them?
But, as well as this, people across the world think of those who have less and donate food, clothes, toys and money.It is worth remembering that these acts of solidarity are part of our
nature, that the impulse towards mutual aid is not just a once in a year
anomoly, that it was a deciding factor in our evolution and is
something we need to nurture, that Peter Kropotkin wrote in Mutual Aid, is a factor of evolution. that we need in order to survive. Blessed Saturnalia, roast chestnuts underneath the pagan tree, ..... oh dear oh me.... But children love it I suppose , this shindig of excess. Their sun will rise anyway, rudolph will leave eat all the carrots and someone will have bamdoozled the sherry.
I suppose it is is a time when many do genuinely take some time out to celebrate their faith, fair enough , but the original meaning seems to have got lost a long time ago now. I also reflect at this time of the year, will think of dear friends, lovers, poets gone too soon, but won't get to deep, need to retain strength, Time also to consider those less well off, those who may be alone at this time of year, those who may not even have a place to call home, others who have lost friends, family and loved ones, those too who have become lost to a society that simply does not care. Remember the many organisations and services providing comfort to those that need it most, people facing homelessness and benefit disruption over the festive season. For some, this time of the year is a time of immense difficulty, fear and uncertainty, people left in isolation, feeling alone, left cold, hungry and without support, in a downward spiral. People who feel they do not belong, who are discredited and denied their status as human beings.
Whatever you do, try take it easy out there, and hope you have a good time, follow your dreams, your currents, each according to your need. Stay positive and stay human.and I wish you a happy peaceful new year. Hard times are approaching, we ain't seen nothing yet. Conservative compassion knows no boundaries. We don't have to take what our leaders want to deliver, we can still make a difference. as foodbanks continue to grow, the Tories should confront the poverty they helped create. For now if its your kind of thing merry Christmas, nadolig llawen, hanukkah, solstice, Yuletide, Saturnalia, Kwanzaa, Festivus, or anything else you care to celebrate.Reach out to those that need help, to those too weak to look after or defend themselves. not just for the holidays, but the days and years ahead, Think I've said enough. Laters...... heddwch/peace
The British street artist Banksy has bought a sombre Christmas
spirit to a hotel he founded in the West Bank town of Bethlehem , with a
nativity scene evoking the Palestinian- Israeli conflict.
It marks the Bristol-based artist's first foray into the public
spotlight having released a mural in the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham, a fortnight ago highlighting homelessness.
Dubbed the “Scar of Bethlehem,”' the artwork features a traditional nativity scene, a miniature Jesus, Mary and
Joseph under a rendition of Israel's concrete West Bank barrier
punctured by bullet holes, the largest of which resembles a star over
the manger.
Three large wrapped presents sit at the forefront of the scene, while
the words 'peace' and 'love' are graffiti tagged in English and French
on the concrete,
The work is installed at Banksy’s Walled-Off Hotel, which he opened in March 2017,where all rooms
overlook a concrete section of the barrier built by Israel to cut off
the occupied West Bank from Israeli territory,offering
"the worst view in the world."and is filled with original Banksy artwork. The hotel also contains a small museum on
the history of the separation barrier.
Hotel
manager Wissam Salsaa called the work a "nativity scene," saying that
"Banksy has his own contribution to Christmas.""It is a great way to
bring up the story
of Bethlehem, the Christmas story, in a different way -- to make people
think more" of how Palestinians live in Bethlehem, Salsaa says. “Banksy
is trying to remind the world that people of Bethlehem, where
Christmas was started, are not celebrating Christmas like the rest of
the world,” he said.
"Christmas is known for the Star of
Bethlehem, that led people to the birthplace of Jesus," said hotel
manager Wisam Salsa. "You see there is a scar, there is a hole on the
wall that marks the wall and the life in Bethlehem how it is today."
.Israel began building the separation barrier , in parts concrete, with
other stretches consisting of fencing,in 2002 during the Palestinian
uprising, or intifada. Built mostly inside the West Bank, Israel says it is necessary to
prevent attacks, but Palestinians label it an apartheid wall, a symbol of their ongoing oppression, separating
them from Jerusalem. The Palestinians consider the barrier illegal and call it an Israeli
land grab, noting that it has engulfed large chunks of the West Bank
onto the Israeli “side.” Aside
from dominating the landscape, the barrier separates Bethlehem from much
of the land owned by its people, and, crucially, it also severs it from
Jerusalem. The structure, has been ruled illegal by the UN's International Court of Justice.'
Traditional Bethlehem Christmas festivities will take place this week at
the church built on the spot where Christians believe Jesus was born. That is being
continually squeezed by Israeli encroachment and by the imposition of
the winding separation barrier through its land. As the separation
barrier expands, Bethlehem’s territory shrinks and shrinks. Its
continued ability to exist as a viable town reduces every year. The impact of the occupation daily bringing its heavy burden.The Church of the Nativity is famously located in Bethlehem, but pigrims vising the birthplace of Jesus will also witness one of the striking ybols of Israeli occupation - the Apartheid Wall Peoples journeys blocked by checkpoints and thirty foot high slabs of concrete. Nothing calm, nothing bright.
A
longtime critic of the occupation, the manger scene and hotel are far
from Banksy’s only West Bank imprint. as has also created a number of
works in Bethlehem and on the separation barrier itself.
In 2007, he painted a number of artworks in Bethlehem, including a young
girl frisking an Israeli soldier pinned up against a wall.
In 2005, he sprayed nine stenciled images at different locations along the eight-meter-high (27-foot) separation barrier.
They
included a ladder on the wall, a little girl carried away by
balloons and a window opening onto a peaceful mountain landscape.
Banksy also is believed to have sneaked into the Gaza Strip to draw four
murals there.
One
was painted on a remaining piece of a building destroyed during the
2014 war between Israel and Gaza’s ruling Hamas militant group and
featured the Greek goddess Niobe cowering against the rubble of a
destroyed house.
Palestinian graffiti artists, too, have made the separation wall a place of political and artistic expression.
Like elsewhere in the world, Banksy’s works in the occupied territory
have become tourist attractions, in part due to him often ghosting in
to create his works in the dead of night.
“Banksy is trying to be a
voice for those that cannot speak,” Salsa said. "He “is creating a new
model of resistance through art.”
For now I hope you have a peaceful holiday and a happy new year.
Banksy art on Israel's highly controversial West Bank barrier in Abu Dis
in 2005.
British politics has seen tumultuous changes over the past four
years. While the question of Brexit and who will govern for the next
five years appears to have been largely settled, there remains a crisis
of confidence in the political system.
The royals are no longer immune to effects of that crisis, with
recent events in parliament exposing the Queen to criticism and
prompting serious debate about royal powers. And of course Prince
Andrew continues to avoid proper scrutiny having plunged the
monarchy into one of its most serious crises for more than 20 years.
January sees the official launch of The Man Who Shouldn't Be King. You can watch the trailer below.
The Man Who Shouldn't be King is a powerful new documentary that spells out the risks of King
Charles and why his failures are the failures of the monarchy. It. takes a critical look at Prince Charles, landowner, businessman, political operator and future king.
He may turn out to be a nice old King, but I along with many others are hoping for a different future, when the people of the land substitute him with a president as head of
state. Prince Charles is another royal who keeps getting called “phony”
for claiming he cared about the environment while exploiting natural resources more than the
people he’s preaching to.
Former government minister and Parliament member Norman Baker recently published an expose called …And What Do You Do?: What The Royal Family Don’t Want You To Know that
called into question some of Prince Charles’ biggest controversies.
Baker accuses the future monarch of tax evasion, greed, private jet
usage, fakery, and perhaps worst of all, of being completely oblivious
to all of it because he’s so entitled.
But whether he realizes it or not, millennials are not in love with the monarchy like older generations were. A YouGov poll found that only 41 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds believe the monarchy should still exist.The British monarchy has been around so long that most people
take its existence for granted. But in reality, the royal family is currently
serving at the pleasure of the people. If Parliament decided to withdraw funding tomorrow,
they could all fade into obscurity. Following Prince Andrew's involvement with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, many critics are coming to the natural conclusion that the institution that is the monarchy no longer has use or relevance or a place for the royals in the
modern world at all,it's a perplexing obscenity that we have them, and in the 21st Century should simply be confined to the dustbins of history.
Counting the ring of years
on this the shortest day
every thousand years
a bird flickers past
and announces, all is not lost
reach out for another shore
quietly and slowly dive
snow flakes embrace the moon
finding the same root as us
breathe the air as needed.
.
Look to the stars for guidance,
as the evening navigates
be at peace among friends
there are places to escape
where enemies are not welcomed
upon every false dawn
break of day and sunrise
on lands full of ever changing patterns
we cling on with strings of thought
with our deeds, reach for tomorrow.
The earth still breathing
wonder at it's sacredness
among the storm clouds brewing
the taste of future days to behold
all in the end must come true
but our words will not fail us
life's mystery, there now
runs silently beside us
reaching out,rejuvenating
let's us sing out, keep reaching.
As the tickets of time
still clutches firmly
the embrace of solidarity
inhaled and shared
beyond cruel winds
the rising tide of hopelessness
across the earth, scattered
far from the stains of cruelty
choose now gentle rejoicing
feelings that give mind strength.
Lepa Svetozara Radić, was born on December 19, 1925 in the village of Gashnica near Gradishka (the modern
territory of the Republika Srpska – now part of Bosnia and Herzegovina).
She graduated from elementary school in neighboring Bistrica, the first
grade of the Women's Craft School, with her somewhat older sister Dara,
in Bosanska Krupa - with the help of Uncle Voje, who served as a lugar
for several years in Podgrmeče - while she finished the other grades in
Bosanska Gradiški.
Already as a student, she emphasized diligent work and seriousness.
Already then,reading advanced literature, Lepa had a strong influence from her uncle Vlade Radic, who was
involved in the labor movement. On
10 April 1941, after the successful invasion of Yugoslavia, the Axis
powers established on its former territory the puppet state Independent
State of Croatia, which, in particular, consisted of Bosanska Gradiška
and its surroundings.
In 1941, at the age of fifteen, she joined the Communist Party, and joined the anti-fascist partisan resistance movement. During
the Kozar offensive, Lepa’s father, Svetozar, and her 15-year-old
brother, Milan, were killed. At the time of the first offensive against the Kozara insurrections in
November 1941, the Ustashi arrested Lepo and all the remaining members
of the Radic family for their dissident activities. However, with the help of illegal Partisan
associates, after 20 days of harassment in the Ustasha prison in
Gradiska, they were released.
After leaving the prison on
December 23, 1941, along with her sister Dara, Lepa became a fighter of
the 7th partisan company of the 2nd Krajina Detachment. Shortly
thereafter, she was a nurse in the company, and then a listener of the
youth course in the village of Lamovita, under Kozar, and a activist on the Prijedor field.
During the Neretva battle in February 1943,
Lepa Radic was responsible for transporting the wounded to the shelter
in Grmec.. During the battle against the 7th Division of the SS she was captured while organizing a rescue of some 150 women and children
seeking refuge from the Axis. She attempted to protect her charges by
firing at the attacking Nazi SS forces with a barrage of her remaining
ammunition , transferred to Bosanska-Krupu. First, the Germans kept her in isolation and tortured her in an attempt
to extract information over the course of three days . She refused to divulge any information about her comrades and was sentenced to death by
hanging.
On February 8, 1943, Lepa Radić was brought to the hastily
constructed gallows in full view of the public. Moments before her
hanging, Radic was offered a pardon if she revealed the names of her
Partisan comrades, but
she passionately responded, “I am not a traitor of my people. Those whom you are
asking about will reveal themselves when they have succeeded in wiping
out all you evildoers, to the last man."
with a noose around her neck she shouted: “Long live the
Communist Party and the partisans! Fight, people, for your freedom, do
not give up to the villains! They’ll kill me, but there are those who
will take revenge for me! And with that, she was hanged.
On 11th
February German soldiers reported the execution had taken place and that
the "bandit" had "shown unprecedented defiance." This brave act would eventually propel her into the history books and consequently her legacy lives on .She died at just 17 in her fight against the Nazis, but they were never able to break her heroic and courageous spirit. Her execution was captured in a series of haunting photographs. By the decree of Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito on December 20, 1951,Lepa Radic was awarded posthumously the title of People’s Hero of Yugoslavia for her role in the resistance movement against the Axis powers—becoming the youngest recipient at the time. She will never grow old. Hers was the ultimate sacrifice made in the
name of peace and freedom.No Pasarán!
I am currently still in shock after the most right-wing Government in decades just slammed home a majority
election win, Many others too now, am sure shattered, feeling powerless afraid of what will come next. because we are going to be stuck with this fucking mob for the next five years now.
Despite the daunting times we face at the present, people are still resisting, standing up and demanding change and a better world, in huge numbers. Yes there will be daunting, years ahead, but there will always be love and dance and song and, music that we can share between ourselves to keep strong and release beauty through the darkness..
In unsteady times, music can be a balm and also a mirror, and a lot of the best music of the year responded in one way or another, to that constant uncertainty. Anyway now is a time to pause and reflect .Here are my musical highlights from 2019.
Seasons greetings. Power to the music and the people that make it. Times ahead going to be hard , but continue to try and support venues where our different tribes gather, am lucky to have one not far from me The Cellar Bar, Cardigan. A truly magnificent place, that caters for all manners of musical tastes , folk , blues, psychedelica, ska, reggae, homegrown hybrids of immense talent, among other magical delights, Appreciate their value In no particular order here are my musical highlights of the year ;-
1: Adwaith - Melyn
2; Lankum - The livelong day
3; The Mekons - Deserted
4; Cate le Bon – Reward
5; Kate Tempest - The Book o Traps and Lessons
6; Tinariwen – Amadjar
7; Leonard Cohen - Thanks For The Dance
8; The Comet is Coming – Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery
9; Gruff Rhys - Pang
10; Patrick Jones and John Robb - Renegade Psalms
11; The Last Poets - Transcending Toxic Times
12; The Specials - Encore
12; Sleaford mods - Eton Alive
14; Cosey Fanni Tutti - Tutti
15; Alternative TV - Primitive Emotions
16; Kim Gordon - No Home Record
17; The Art Ensemble of Chicago - We Are On The Edge
18; Steve Ignorant's Slice of Life - Don't Turn Away
Congratulations Boris Johnson, Donald Trump is now pushing even harder for a lucrative trade deal with the UK, and we know what that means. He wants to get his hands on the NHS. That could force the NHS to pay more for life saving drugs, or sell off services to US private companies. The path to this trade deal just got a lot easier for him. A powerful government means that fewer MP''s can scrutinise or block trade deals that put our NHS at risk. Truly alarming times.
The United Kingdom's four separate and independent public healthcare
providers (collectively the National Health Service) were established in
1948. Three core principles at the heart of the NHS are that it meets
the needs of everyone, that it be free at the point of delivery, and
that it be based on clinical need, not ability to pay.
The NHS was the supreme achievement of the post-war welfare state
,subsequently becoming one of Britain's best loved institutions, and
the one most likely to keep you alive. It is currently in crisis . Yet
far from being accidental, this crisis has been deliberately designed
by the Tories to accelerate NHS privatisation, forcing hospitals to
compete against low-cost private companies to provide services. Since
the Conservatives took power, the percentage of the NHS budget going to
private healthcare providers has doubled.
A very important film has been recently released by renowned BAFTA and Emmy-winning filmmaker and journalist John Pilger, it is to be shown sadly in the post election graveyard on ITV and ITV Wales on Tuesday the 17th December at 10.45 pm. If you miss the screening on Tuesday you can catch it again for a month on ITV Player.
Do please inform other people, as it is vital as many people as possible, who value out NHS, please watch and share this film because this concerns every single one of us.
Pilger introducing the The Dirty War said that he had wanted to
make it for some time, even though he had already made a couple of
films about the NHS. He noted that the war on the NHS had been going on a
long time but was at a crucial stage now. The NHS, said Pilger, has
become a major issue in the election precisely because it “represents
democracy.”
But what was at stake was more than “just” the dismantling by the
corporate vultures of a system that was, in principle at least, a
comprehensive (from the cradle to the grave) and universal service, free
at the point of use. Pilger explains in the film that “Britain’s deadly
disease was class. The NHS was not given from on high but won in
struggle. It exemplifies what is good in British society. NHS is a
deeply democratic institution. The leaflet announcing the NHS to the
British people and given to everyone said, ‘Open to all, rich and
poor.’”
“But” he said, “the corporations hate the NHS. They and the
politicians are carrying out a war against it. We have to fight for it.
We should have done so earlier because it touches all our lives. It is
the great connector between all of us.
“If the NHS goes, everything else will go.”
Pilger makes clear that the dirty war on the NHS is aimed at giving free
rein to the corporate sector, who cannot wait to get their hands on the
service’s £120 billion a year funding, with author and Spinwatch
campaigner Tamasin Cave describing the NHS as a “£120 billion
opportunity” for the powerful healthcare corporations. It will mean a
healthcare system that will deliver profits, not treatment and care for
those who need it..In it, Pilger takes a hard swipe at the successive governments who are
less-than-stealthily selling off the NHS to private firms to an
unprecedented level in recent years. Some £15 billion, in
NHS contracts has been given to private firms in the last five years
alone ( The Guardian).
Here is the official preview of 'The Dirty War on the NHS. The film shows why the NHS was created after WW2 and how it has provided a vital safety net to generations of people that has slowly over the years since Margaret Thatcher, the NHS has been made ready to be sold off to an insurance based private healthcare system.It also shows how these same run for profit systems in the USA refuse treatment to many millions of people who are unable to afford sufficient health care insurance to cover their personal costs,Filmed in both countries , the film warns of the danger to the fundamental human right to medical care.
In July 2018 it was revealed that health secretary Matt Hancock accepted
donations of £32,000 from the chairman of the Institute of Economic
Affairs (IEA), a think-tank that supports the privatisation of the NHS.
In June 2019, US President Donald Trump insisted that the NHS should be
"on the table" in any post-Brexit trade deal negotiations between the UK
and the US.
In November 2019, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn announced the existence of
a leaked 400+ page document detailing the UK government's secret talks
with the US about including the National Health Service in a post-Brexit
trade deal.
As of December 2019, the UK government insists that the NHS does not and
will never face privatisation. However, spending increases have slowed
dramatically under austerity, and cuts made elsewhere, especially to
social care and welfare, have put the service
under increasing pressure. Additionally there is the uncertainty of
post-Brexit staffing: 5.6% of the total workforce are from EU countries,
including 10% of doctors and 7% of nurses.
The N H.S is now clinging on a cliff edge because of underfunding, which threatens to push it over, combined with continuing attempts to make the N.H.S unworkable by making impossible demands on the system and its staff, with the Conservatives now in power again, the NHS is definitely 'unsafe ' in their hands, we have to continue to fight to save it from the grips of the privateers, because we owe it our lives.
Here is a link to an article in the Mirror by John Pilger
