Natalie Bennett: The state of our NHS is down to long-term political failure

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/02/natalie-bennett-the-state-of-our-nhs-is-down-to-long-term-political-failure/

The Green Party holds that the profit motive should have no place in our health care – in any form of care

Natalie Bennett is a Green Party member of the House of Lords. She was leader of the Green Party of England and Wales from 2012-16.

Perhaps because it is a continuing story of disaster, there’s few stories now also about the impact of privatisation, despite the level continuing to rise. In 2022 nearly 10 per cent of treatments for NHS patients, more than 2 million people, were provided by private companies, up from 3 per cent in 2011. Yet there’s evidence that in areas where privatisation is at the highest levels the outcomes are dire – in the form of more people dying from treatable causes.

In mental health care – in the face of terribly tragedies, and much higher levels of privatisation, with public provision gutted – there’s been more attention. Now 55 per cent of under-18 inpatient mental health care is delivered by for-profit providers.

Meanwhile, we are all continuing to pay for the disaster of Labour Party-promoted Private Finance Initiative (PFI) schemes. That sees some hospitals paying a sixth of their total budget on payments, frequently to offshore hedge funds, and from a £13 billion original investment a final bill that will reach £80 billion, the equivalent of £1,200 for each person in the UK.

The Green Party holds that the profit motive should have no place in our health care – in any form of care – but the current largest opposition party, Labour, appears to be a fan of even further steps of privatisation.

There’s also long term underfunding, with austerity in the face of a growing and ageing population having disastrous impacts. Provision for investment on infrastructure and technology collapsed; the RAAC crisis was just one visible tip of a very large iceberg of decline.

And that austerity saw a collapse in real terms of the pay of nurses and doctors, which has seen a huge exodus overseas and to other jobs, meaning huge understaffing, which puts massive pressure on remaining staff.

Make no mistake. The state of the system is not the fault of medical staff. It is not the fault of managers. It is a long-term political failure, the application of ideology over evidence, the interests of private companies over public good.

https://leftfootforward.org/2024/02/natalie-bennett-the-state-of-our-nhs-is-down-to-long-term-political-failure/

Continue ReadingNatalie Bennett: The state of our NHS is down to long-term political failure

State of Our Rivers Report: Green Party repeats call to take water companies into public ownership

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Green Party Co-leader Adrian Ramsay. Wikipedia CC.
Green Party Co-leader Adrian Ramsay. Wikipedia CC.

The Green Party has repeated calls for water companies to be brought into public ownership in response to the latest State of Our Rivers report. This has found not a single waterway in England is in good overall health. The Rivers Trust study reveals that the impact of pollution from treated and untreated sewage and agricultural and industrial runoff means rivers are in a worse condition than ever.  

Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay said: 

“The state of our rivers is a national scandal. Despite public outcry over our polluted waterways and coastline the latest State of Our Rivers report shows things haven’t improved since the last report in 2021.  

“For too long water companies and consecutive governments have failed to act. Taking our water companies into public ownership, so they work for people, not profit, will be a clear Green Party manifesto commitment.  

“For decades, money that should have been invested in improved infrastructure has been siphoned off to water company executives and shareholders. It’s time to flush this failed experiment with privatisation down the drain and for a service as vital as water and sewage to be run for the public good. 

“It should also be acknowledged that agricultural pollution contributes to 62% of waterways in England failing to meet good standards. We need to learn from the many innovative farmers who are using regenerative and organic farming methods that prevent chemical runoff into rivers.  

“Our rivers should be havens for wildlife and biodiversity and healthy places for people to enjoy. In too many cases they more closely resemble open sewers. Green MPs will make cleaning up our act on water pollution a key priority.” 

Continue ReadingState of Our Rivers Report: Green Party repeats call to take water companies into public ownership

Morning Star: Water price hikes: we need a mass movement for public ownership, Attack on free speech and more

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Editorials and a few articles from The Morning Star

Morning Star: Water price hikes: we need a mass movement for public ownership

Water bills from Southern Water

Water price hikes: we need a mass movement for public ownership

UNITE’S Sharon Graham calls the water industry “a symbol of the failure of privatisation writ large.”

She is right. The only reaction to water bosses’ announcement that they will raise prices above inflation from April should be a mass campaign for renationalisation now.

Water suppliers claim they need to raise bills because they are planning big investments to cut down on leaks. How dare they?

Since privatisation these crooks have paid out over £70 billion in dividends to shareholders, loaded the sector — debt-free when privatised — with over £50bn in debt and raised bills by over 40 per cent.

While milking the system for everything it’s worth they have neglected basic maintenance and repairs. In London and the south-east alone, water regulator Ofwat calculated last year that 600 million litres, equivalent to 270 Olympic swimming pools, are leaked from pipes every single day.

They have behaved with utter contempt for the environment, discharging untreated sewage into our waterways thousands of times. They have continued to pay executives millions even when fined for their illegal ecological vandalism.

Morning Star: Attack on free speech

THE director of public prosecutions is appealing to the Supreme Court to overturn the acquittal of two peaceful protesters for insulting Iain Duncan Smith.

Ruth Wood and Radical Haslam were charged over an incident in Manchester during the October 2021 Conservative Party conference at which both called the former work and pensions secretary “Tory scum” and Ms Wood added “F*** off out of Manchester.”

That their case even reached the High Court should have set alarm bells ringing over the creeping restriction of free speech in Britain. That court’s not guilty verdict was welcome, though its consideration of their motives for insulting Mr Duncan Smith was surely unnecessary: rudeness to a politician should not be considered criminal, end of.

MPs reveal the human cost of the Bibby Stockholm, as taxpayers pick up extra £2.6bn bill

A view of the Bibby Stockholm migrant accommodation barge following the death of an asylum seeker on board, December 12, 2023

THE tragic human cost of the Bibby Stockholm barge was revealed by MPs today as the Tories’ overspend on asylum accommodation landed taxpayers with an extra £2.6 billion bill.

Dame Diana Johnson said asylum-seekers were facing “claustrophobic” conditions that could amount to a breach of human rights after the home affairs select committee visited the Portland vessel.

The committee chairwoman wrote to illegal migration minister Michael Tomlinson to set out serious concerns about the wellbeing of asylum-seekers on the barge.

She said it was “disheartened to see some of the living conditions on the Bibby Stockholm” after finding “many individuals having to share small, cramped cabins (originally designed for one person), often with people (up to six) they do not know (some of whom spoke a different language to them).”

“These crowded conditions were clearly contributing to a decline in mental health for some of the residents, and they could amount to violations of the human rights of asylum-seekers,” she added.

The committee complained of “discrepancies” between the accounts of officials and asylum-seekers themselves, noting MPs received “inconsistent” information regarding access to GP services for those on board.

Former Labour mayor launches independent election campaign with scathing attack on party

Mayor of North of Tyne, Jamie Driscoll, speaking at the Convention of the North, January 25, 2023

AN ELECTED Labour mayor who was barred by the party from standing in May’s mayoral election has launched his election campaign standing as an independent.

North of Tyne Mayor Jamie Driscoll attacked Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer in a packed community hall in Sunderland on Thursday night asking: “What if – it’s a general election year – Keir Starmer says, ‘here’s my 10 pledges’ – would you trust him to keep them?”

He criticised Labour MPs and other politicians who changed their positions each time a policy was altered by the leadership.

“The day I left the Labour Party was the day Labour said they would adopt the Conservative policy of the two-child benefit cap — a policy that plunged 250,000 kids into poverty at a stroke,” he said.

“And all those Labour frontbenchers – and Labour mayoral candidates – who’d said that policy was ‘heinous’ and ‘cruel’ changed their tune, and said, ‘ah, well, you know, public finances,’ and meekly swallowed the party line that it’s OK to keep children in poverty.

Continue ReadingMorning Star: Water price hikes: we need a mass movement for public ownership, Attack on free speech and more

Energy price cap rise will ‘hammer households even harder’ this year, union body warns

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/01/energy-price-cap-rise-will-hammer-households-even-harder-this-year-union-body-warns/

Image of cash and pre-payment meter key
Image of cash and pre-payment meter key

The leading trade union body has slammed government policy for benefiting corporate profiteering at the expense of household bills, leading renewed calls to nationalise the energy sector after the 5% energy price cap rise.

Households will be ‘hammered even harder’ in 2024 the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has said, as the Ofgem price cap rise came into effect from January 1, which will see households across the country face a 5% increase in their energy bill.

It has led to further warnings from charities about struggling households facing another cold start to the year and renewed calls for government support to help households struggling with their energy bills.

“No one should struggle to get by in one of the richest countries in the world,” said TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak.

“But 13 years of wage stagnation and cuts to social security have left millions badly exposed to sky-high bills this winter.”

With energy bills already 50% higher than two years ago, Nowak said the price cap rise will only “hammer households even harder in the coming year”.

Warm This Winter, a coalition of 50 leading UK charities, warned of the effects the government’s inaction at tackling the energy crisis will have across services.  

“Failure to avert this cold homes crisis will lead to pressure on the NHS, a mental health catastrophe and additional winter deaths caused by living in cold damp homes,” said Fiona Waters, Warm This Winter spokesperson.

https://leftfootforward.org/2024/01/energy-price-cap-rise-will-hammer-households-even-harder-this-year-union-body-warns/

Continue ReadingEnergy price cap rise will ‘hammer households even harder’ this year, union body warns

Left Foot Forward EXCLUSIVE: Poll shows huge support for nationalisation of key industries and utilities

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https://leftfootforward.org/2023/11/exclusive-poll-shows-huge-support-for-nationalisation-of-key-industries-and-utilities/

Privatisation has failed.

Image of an East Coast train
An East Coast train at King’s Cross station

An exclusive poll for LFF shows huge public support for nationalisation of key industries and utilities, with the public having little confidence in the private sector, showing just how badly privatisation has failed.

Our poll shows that a majority of the public support public ownership of key industries and utilities like energy, water, railways, buses and the postal service – including among Conservative voters.

Buses: 67% want public ownership

67% of voters want to see buses in public ownership, with just 23% wanting private sector involvement. Support for public ownership of buses is highest among 18-24 year olds at 77%, with 64% of those aged 65 and over also supporting public ownership.

When it comes to party affiliation, a majority of Conservative Party voters want to see buses in public ownership (61%) as do Labour voters (72%) and Lib Dem voters (66%).

Water: 73% want public ownership

When it comes to water companies, 73% of voters want public ownership of water companies, compared to 18% who want them to be run by the private sector. Once again, a majority of Tory voters also want to see public ownership (70%) as do Labour voters (81%) and Lib Dem voters (77%). 88% of Green Party voters also want to see water companies taken into public ownership.

Railways: 70% support for public ownership

Energy: 65% want public ownership

Postal service: 70% want public ownership

NHS: 81% want public sector involvement only

https://leftfootforward.org/2023/11/exclusive-poll-shows-huge-support-for-nationalisation-of-key-industries-and-utilities/

Continue ReadingLeft Foot Forward EXCLUSIVE: Poll shows huge support for nationalisation of key industries and utilities

Post-Brexit UK water quality standards set to be much lower than EU standards

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‘The UK’s decision to diverge from EU water quality standards is yet another blow in a string of post-Brexit setbacks.’

Image of a burst water main.
Image of a burst water main.


https://leftfootforward.org/2023/11/post-brexit-uk-water-quality-standards-set-to-be-much-lower-than-eu-standards/

The UK government is to diverge from the EU’s standards for monitoring the quality of water in England.

An exclusive report by the Guardian this week revealed that instead of being covered by the EU’s water framework directive (WFD), as it was when the UK was in the European Union, the government will use its own, as yet undisclosed, methodology to assess the quality of England’s waterways. Under the WFD, a national chemical and ecology survey was carried out every year. But from 2016, the government made the decision that water quality under WFD would only be tested every three years, instead of annually.

The last time a full water assessment of England’s rivers took place was in 2019, when just 14 percent were found to be in good ecological health. None however, met good chemical health standards. 

According to the report, government officials told stakeholders about the change at a meeting. A source from an NGO who had attended the meeting said: “When asked how this would affect assessments against the target set out in the government’s environment improvement plan, officials commented that this data would no longer be used for that purpose, and that Defra were looking to use the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA) process to assessment performance. I question how developed the work on the NCEA is and whether this is suitable.”

Campaigners have warned that diverging from EU environmental standards will lead to England’s rivers and waterways becoming even more polluted if the new measuring methods are less rigorous. They also warn that it may make it more difficult for the state of England’s rivers to be compared with those in the EU, meaning the public will be left in the dark about water pollution and sewage.

https://leftfootforward.org/2023/11/post-brexit-uk-water-quality-standards-set-to-be-much-lower-than-eu-standards/

Continue ReadingPost-Brexit UK water quality standards set to be much lower than EU standards

We Own it protesters demand Labour commits to reinstating fully public NHS

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/we-own-it-protesters-demand-labour-commits-reinstating-fully-public-nhs

We Own It campaigners in masks outside the conference hall

ANTI-privatisation campaigners gathered outside the Labour Party conference today morning to demand that leader Sir Keir Starmer commit to reinstating the NHS as a fully public service.

Protesters from We Own It wore masks of the most recent Tory prime ministers and cut into an NHS box using knives adorned with private company logos while a masked Sir Keir watched as delegates began arriving at the conference in Liverpool.

We Own It director Cat Hobbs said: “In 2010, the NHS was rated the most efficient and best-performing health service in the world.

“The message of our action … is that after 13 years of cuts and privatisation, Keir Starmer has an opportunity to be a hero to the NHS by committing, in his speech to conference, to reinstate it as a fully public service.

“We want to say to Keir Starmer that the public wants a leader who will stand up for our NHS.”

Ms Hobbs said the public call is “too clear for Labour to ignore.”

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/we-own-it-protesters-demand-labour-commits-reinstating-fully-public-nhs

Continue ReadingWe Own it protesters demand Labour commits to reinstating fully public NHS

Green Party conference: Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay put demands for public ownership front and centre

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https://bright-green.org/2023/10/06/green-party-conference-carla-denyer-and-adrian-ramsay-put-demands-for-public-ownership-front-and-centre/

Green Party co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay have delivered their speech to their party’s autumn conference with a call for key public services to be brought into public ownership. The conference speech – likely the last before the next general election – ripped into the failures of privatisation in sectors from water to the health service.

Green Party Co-leader Adrian_Ramsay. Wikipedia CC.
Green Party Co-leader Adrian_Ramsay. Wikipedia CC.

Ramsay told attendees: “Private water companies are dumping sewage into our rivers and seas, while taking on billions in debt to fund dividend payments to shareholders.”

He went on to say: “We’ll have the platform to say what none of the other parties has had the courage to say: that the privatised water companies have failed, that there must be no more shareholder payouts until the water companies stop dumping sewage in our rivers, that the money we pay for our water bills must be spent updating our infrastructure not filling the pockets of shareholders, and that water is run as the public service that it should be, not the profit-making scheme that it’s become – by bringing it back into public hands.”

Ramsay’s comments were met with eruptions of cheers and applause from the audience.

Image of the Green Party's Carla Denyer on BBC Question Time.
Image of the Green Party’s Carla Denyer on BBC Question Time.

Denyer, meanwhile, highlighted the issues currently facing the NHS. She said: “The NHS and our other public services have been brought to breaking point by 13 years of Conservative cuts – with patients and staff paying the price. Has it ever been so hard to find a dentist? Have we ever had to wait so long to see an NHS consultant? Those that can afford it are forking out for private health care, those who can’t afford it are left behind. And meanwhile, no solutions are being offered.”

She went on to criticise the record and position of both Labour and the Tories on the health service, telling attendees: “The Tories blame medical staff – those frontline workers calling for a long overdue and well-deserved pay rise, and Labour’s promise of ‘reform’ rings hollow given the scale of the crisis – and hints at more privatisation by the back door. We know we can do better than this.”

Finishing her comments on the health service, Denyer called for the NHS to be reinstated as a fully public service – with free dental provision included. She said: “The Green Party believes in an NHS that sits fully in public hands,  free at the point of use for all – including dentistry – and with four Green MPs in Parliament, we’ll never let the other parties forget it.

“We know that claps don’t pay the bills. We believe in decent pay and fair conditions for public sector workers and an NHS that provides the health safety net it was designed to all those years ago.”

Elsewhere in their address, Denyer accused the Labour Party of being “more interested in fossil fuel investors getting their dirty profits” than addressing the climate crisis. She told the conference: “Energy bills in the UK are nearly £2.5bn higher than they would have been if the government hadn’t dismissed climate policy over the last decade. Not content with that, they are now doubling down on their climate vandalism: granting permission for a huge coal mine; failing to get a single bid for vital offshore wind projects; weakening our net zero commitments; and opening up the enormous Rosebank oilfield.

“And Labour are following them every step of the way – willing onlookers to the Conservatives’ climate crimes. Rosebank? ‘The right decision,’ says Gordon Brow[n]. Their reasoning: ‘investor certainty’. Sounds good right? But let us translate: Labour is more interested in fossil fuel investors getting their dirty profits, than in taking meaningful climate action.”

https://bright-green.org/2023/10/06/green-party-conference-carla-denyer-and-adrian-ramsay-put-demands-for-public-ownership-front-and-centre/

Continue ReadingGreen Party conference: Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay put demands for public ownership front and centre

Sorry is not enough: Water companies must be brought into public ownership

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April 2023 Surfers Against Sewage and Extinction Rebellion protests in St Agnes, Perranporth, Truro and Charlestown which unveiled spoof Blue Plaques to the MPs and Conservative Government who allowed raw sewage to be dumped in the sea (Image: Surfers Against Sewage)
April 2023 Surfers Against Sewage and Extinction Rebellion protests in St Agnes, Perranporth, Truro and Charlestown which unveiled spoof Blue Plaques to the MPs and Conservative Government who allowed raw sewage to be dumped in the sea (Image: Surfers Against Sewage)

https://greenworld.org.uk/article/sorry-not-enough-water-companies-must-be-brought-public-ownership

The Green Party has reiterated its call for water companies to be brought into public ownership after Water UK apologised for a series of sewage discharges.

The Green Party has reiterated its call for water companies to be brought into public ownership after Water UK apologised for presiding over a rising tide of sewage discharges.

Water UK represents 25 water companies across the UK and said that the public was ‘right to be upset about the current quality of our rivers and beaches’. The companies have also promised to triple funding for sewer system upgrades, cut spilly by up to 25 per cent by 2030, and provide the public with ‘near real-time’ data on sewage spills. 

Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay said: “Rivers and coastlines up and down the country have faced years of assault at the hands of the water companies and a government that has refused to act.

“Saying sorry is simply not enough – and suggesting that the public has to pay for any improvements, after £57bn has been paid out in payouts to shareholders over the last 30 years, just adds insult to injury.

“Currently water companies can, almost with impunity, dump sewage into our rivers, waterways and coastal waters with an appalling cost to public health and our wildlife. This situation cannot go on.

https://greenworld.org.uk/article/sorry-not-enough-water-companies-must-be-brought-public-ownership

Continue ReadingSorry is not enough: Water companies must be brought into public ownership

Manchester launches first locally controlled bus service in four decades

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https://leftfootforward.org/2023/09/manchester-launches-first-locally-controlled-bus-service-in-four-decades/

“I hope it signals the start of a public transport revolution across the whole of England,” says Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham.

Greater Manchester has retaken control of its buses after almost 40 years of deregulation.

As bus services were deregulated across the UK in 1986 – except in London where services remained under local control – the move represents the biggest change to public transport in a generation.

The privatisation of Britain’s bus sector was introduced by Margaret Thatcher’s government. At the time, the government predicted that the move would lead to “lower fares, new services, and more passengers,” while removing “any potential liability on the taxpayer.”

Instead, bus use has been in decline ever since, and today, much of the sector is in crisis, with taxpayers subsidising corporate profits. In Greater Manchester, the number of passengers using buses has fallen from 355m in 1986/87, to just over 182m at the end of 2019, just before Covid.

From September 24, a fleet of 50 zero-emission Bee Network-branded buses (ZEBs) will be in service. The buses offer a range of improved features for passengers, including two bays for wheelchair users, anti-slip flooring, audio and visual announcement systems, and hearing induction loops. Over the next two years, existing buses in Greater Manchester will be gradually upgraded to Bee Network buses.

https://leftfootforward.org/2023/09/manchester-launches-first-locally-controlled-bus-service-in-four-decades/

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Continue ReadingManchester launches first locally controlled bus service in four decades