A Future That Works

A Future That Works
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Wednesday 12 October 2011

House of Lords vote to give the Health and Social Care Bill a second reading

The House of Lords have passed the government's health and social care bill at second reading. The amendment by Lord Owen would have sent part of the bill to be examined by a special select committee failed by 262 to 330, and an amendment by Lord Rea that would have stopped the bill in its tracks failed by 220 to 354.

4 comments:

  1. Health minister Earl Howe said Lord Owen's plan would have require a special select committee to report by the 19th of December and posed ‘‘an unacceptable’’ risk to the legislation and Government reforms.

    Lord Rea, urging peers to block the Bill saying ‘‘I have had a tumultuous call from the country not simply to amend the Bill but to reject it in its entirety. I think the Bill is virtually unamendable, certainly in the timetable we have been offered or even if it were to be extended, or Lord Owen's amendment were to be accepted’’.

    Lord Howe the health minister said ‘‘To vote for Lord Rea would run directly counter to the proper role and function of this House’’ and called for both amendments to be rejected’’.

    Deputy leader of the Labour peers Lord Hunt of Kings Heath said ‘‘The scale of concern, the scale of mistrust amongst the NHS and amongst the public is greater than I have ever known it before. Only this House now stands between the safeguarding of the NHS and these confused and damaging proposals. I hope we will not fail the test that has been set us. I will support Lord Rea in the lobby’’.

    Lord Howe attempted to reassure peers that the bill wouldn’t threaten a comprehensive NHS, saying he would make ‘‘any necessary amendment’’ to the bill required to ensure this doesn’t happen.

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  2. Just a few typical prices for private operations if we lose the NHS

    Cateracts £1800
    Varicose Vein £1800
    Hernia £1800
    Wisdom Teeth £1150
    Carpal Tunnel £1350
    Trigger Finger £1700
    Knee Arthroscopy £2300
    Knee Replacement £9400
    Hip Replacement £8450

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  3. We may have lost the battle, but we have not lost the war, Andrew Lansley expected his changes to the NHS to have been finalised 6 months ago.

    http://blog.38degrees.org.uk/2011/10/13/nhs-what-weve-done-together-so-far/

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  4. The battle to save the NHS is just beginning says Andy Burnham ‘‘It will be debated now over a number of weeks, even months, in the House of Lords line by line, clause by clause and Labour will be wanting changes to this bill, substantial and drastic changes to it, so this is far from over’’ he added that. ‘‘The government are digging in here, they're digging in for the long haul and that's not going to help our National Health Service’’.

    This is another important fightback which the broad left cannot afford to lose, the NHS was the cornerstone of the welfare state created by the Attlee Labour government and what defined the Labour Party as a socialist/social-democratic party. Nye Bevan remains the greatest socialist MP that Britain ever had because of his achievements in creating the NHS and his council housing programme both of which improved the lives of ordinary working class people.

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