Huddersfield A&E fightback grows

Marching to save the NHS, photo by Paul Mattsson (Click to enlarge)

Mike Forster, Huddersfield Socialist Party

The campaign to save accident and emergency services in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, is mobilising all its forces for a public 'consultation' on 18 April.

Previous sham consultation meetings have been really well attended. Not a single voice has been raised in favour of the closure.

So far, we have distributed 12,000 leaflets calling on local people to attend. The clinical commissioning group, responsible for the proposed cut, has only booked a room for around 450. We can expect a huge overflow of angry residents outside the venue - yet more evidence of a flawed consultation.

The newly formed 'Youth for HRI' group has also produced 3,000 flyers calling on young people to come, and will be marching from the town centre to the venue.

As well as the active youth group, there are 14 local groups which have been set up to organise and mobilise local communities. These groups are now meeting every month with a programme of major events.

Huddersfield has never seen anything like this depth of local support or energy since the days of the campaign against Thatcher's hated poll tax. Militant, the Socialist Party's forerunner, similarly played a leading role in that movement.

Facebook 'Lets save Huddersfield A&E', Twitter #HandsOffHRI, handsoffhri.com

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