Uprising to save the NHS!

Socialist Party member Steve Score speaking at the demo to save Grantham A&E and the NHS, 14.10.17, photo by East Midlands Socialist Party (Click to enlarge)

Heather Rawling

An NHS 'uprising' took place in Grantham, Lincolnshire, on Saturday 14 October! A determined 800-strong demonstration wound its way through the town. People are fighting against the night time closure of Grantham A&E and the systematic downgrading of services in their local hospital.

But this was more than just about Grantham A&E. Campaigners in Louth created a banner around the theme of an NHS uprising against cuts, closures and privatisation.

After their local protest they took it to a Lincoln protest against the closure of a walk-in centre and then Grantham. Their plan is to take it around elsewhere where there are threats to the NHS as a way of helping to build links between campaigns.

Fiery speeches from many campaigners, including NHS staff, explained the impact of losing services. This included a speech from Socialist Party member Steve Score, representing the Save Glenfield Children's Hospital campaign.

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The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.

The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.

The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.

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