problems

As I said in my first post, my anger at the general election result has only been aggravated by the ignorance of some pro-Conservatives celebrating the party they so self-righteously follow. Today, I decided to compile a collection of my favourite remarks, commenting on the NHS and the anti-austerity march that took place on Saturday. The quotes are ranked, with the quotes I hate the most at the beginning, and least at the end. Also, funnily enough they are coincidentally ranked in terms of how much substance they have in their argument for being pro-Conservative.

"Those protests in London just looked like a load of socialist hippies"

For me, this is plain and simple proof of why many people dislike the Conservative government and its followers- snobbery. Yes, that is an unfortunate stereotype, but it is an unfortunate stereotype that is proved by comments like this! Turning to the rather snobbish phrase "socialist hippie" to denigrate the Left, like a McCarthyist from 1950s America, is no way to do yourself any favours in encouraging people to respect your views because quite frankly it makes you look like an uneducated fool.

"You lasted the past 5 years with a Tory government, stop crying"

"You'?! Who are the "you" they are referring to? The 913,000 people who had to get emergency food packages from food banks over 12 months? The students leaving university with £44,000 of debt? The disabled who are suffering more and more as a result of Conservative benefit cuts? Or the woman who committed suicide because she couldn't pay the bedroom tax? Things like this really worry me. I find it concerning that there are people my age who are of this close minded and selfish opinion, and who fail to look beyond their front doorstep when evaluating the status of the country they live in. 

"Jesus, if David Cameron wanted to privatise the NHS he would have done it years ago. Stop getting your knickers in a twist"

Once more, such an ill thought attempt at supporting the Conservatives time in power, and pays no attention whatsoever to the facts, so here they are. The Conservatives 2010 manifesto claimed there would be "no more top-down reorganisations of the NHS" and that they would "cut the deficit, not the NHS". Cameron went ahead with £20 billion worth of NHS cuts,  he allowed private health corporations to buy access to people's private health records without their consent (selling 47 million private records without consent despite public outcry), and made it much easier for the Health Secretary to force the closure of NHS hospitals and services. So just to let you know: I will keep my "knickers in a twist" because David Cameron has already posed enough of a threat to the NHS- get your facts right.

"Anyone remember when the Tories caused unrest and rioted in the streets when Labour won in 2005 with 35% of the vote? No, me neither"

Now fortunately, the slightly more serious comments begin. I found this quote interesting (only for a moment) as I realised the point being made. But as soon as I realised the point made, I realised the argument against it. It occurred to me that the simple reason (going back to stereotypes again) is that the majority of people who will have voted Conservative, were not at threat by the plans of the Labour government, which is the key difference in this case. The Tory government's malicious plans for the next 5 years are a scary prospect for many people living in Britain (including me) and therefore the need to make a stand against it is more urgent, and legitimate. Whereas, for Conservative supporters (apologies for generalising again), the majority being wealthy, they could just get on with life as usual because they would not suffer under Labour government. 

"Many Labour supporters have circulated the assumption, particularly on social media, that the Conservatives are going to privatise the entire NHS. To be clear and coherent, here is page 37/38 of the Conservative Party Manifesto on the Conservative approach to improving the NHS. I think this issue is one that many Labour supporters are utilising keeping many of the electorate from speaking out that they are a Tory-supporter."

The final quote was one that interested me a bit more than riled me. Upon the news of the Conservative majority, I set out to read the Conservative manifesto, to get an idea of what was on the cards for the next 5 years. I specifically searched for the section on the NHS due to it being such a prominent issue. I have to say I was... pleasantly surprised by its content. So, rather cynically, I researched what the suggested risks are that the Conservatives pose to the NHS, from somewhere more partial. My conclusion on the dangers posed to the NHS by the Conservatives was as follows: anti-Conservatives often misphrase themselves regarding this issue, due to lack of knowledge on subject, and make throwaway comments. The Conservative manifesto may well pledge allegiance to the safety of the NHS, through legitimate means. However, there are several areas of concern regarding the Conservatives other approaches to the NHS. The first being TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) which unfortunately many people are unaware of. TTIP would give US corporations unprecedented access to the NHS and ultimately sell-out of the NHS to corporate interests. If TTIP goes ahead, the NHS will turn into an organisation that puts profits before patients. The consequences of TTIP, are disastrous. Argentina privatised their water supply in 1993, but now upon renationalising it have successfully been sued $408million by the Suez water company. After changing their nuclear energy policy Germany are being sued for over €1 billion by energy company Vattenfall. Australia are currently in a court dispute with cigarette giants Phillip Morris because their planned health warnings on cigarette packages will affect cigarette sales in their country. As shown by these countries, signing trade agreements can land you serious debts. In the context of the Conservatives plans for the NHS, it shows that despite their "best intentions" for the NHS, signing TTIP may end up overriding the "good word" of the Conservative manifesto and create danger for the NHS. A crippling debt and losing control of our NHS is surely not what we need on top of our current economic issues? Yet this is the future the Tory's are supporting. The second area for concern is the Conservatives track record of how they've treated the NHS. As I've previously mentioned, the Conservatives went back on their word in 2010 with harrowing cuts. Michael Portillo said in 2011: "They did not believe they could win an election if they told you what they were going to do because people are so wedded to the NHS", what's to say things will be different this time round? And here's the tip of the iceberg- Cameron has succeeded in appointing Jeremy Hunt as Health Secretary, a man who hates the NHS and has called for it to be abolished. You don't have to be Nostradamus to recognise that none of these things bode at all well for the future of the NHS. 

So thats my review of the rather interesting comments I've found online. I must say it has been fairly therapeutic to get this anger off my chest in this form, rather than arguing with someone online which can be like talking to a brick wall a lot of the time. The articles I used to supplement my knowledge on this are below. Yesterday David Cameron announced his cabinet reshuffle which has definitely given me a good idea of what to write about next. 

http://www.redpepper.org.uk/ttip-the-corporate-trump-card/

http://action.sumofus.org/a/nhs-ttip/?sub=fb

http://anotherangryvoice.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/12-things-tories-nhs.html

http://anotherangryvoice.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/jeremy-hunt-hospital-closure-clause.html