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The Mirror reports that Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Burnham has called for the Health and Social Care / Destroy the NHS Bill to be dropped.

Boston & Skegness Conservative MP Mark Simmonds is paid £50,000 a year to advise a private health firm that stands to make a fortune under Coalition plans for the NHS. Further similar revelations about the motivations of MPs would be useful.

More on the NHS Croydon £25Million black hole.

UK Uncut

We start with some simple points of agreement. The brutal cuts to services about to be inflicted by the current Government are unnecessary, unfair and ideologically motivated. The coalition are particularly fond of two obscene catchphrases: ‘There is no alternative’ and ‘We’re all in this together.’ Both slogans are empty and untrue. The cuts will dismantle the welfare state, send inequality sky-rocketing and hit the poorest and most vulnerable hardest. A cabinet of millionaires have decided that libraries, healthcare, education funding, voluntary services, sports, the environment, the disabled, the poor and the elderly must pay the price for the recklessness of the rich.

Austerity-economics is the policy of the powerful. It cannot be stopped by asking nicely. We cannot wait until the next election. If we want to win the fight against these cuts (and we can win) then we must make it impossible to ignore our arguments and impossible to resist our demands. This means building a powerful grassroots mass movement, able to resist the Government cuts at every turn.

UK Uncut

The Government’s Line lies

 

“There is no alternative.”

We are told that the only way to reduce the deficit is to cut public services. This is certainly not the case. There are alternatives, but the government chooses to ignore them, highlighting the fact that the cuts are based on ideology, not necessity.

  • One alternative is to clamp down on tax avoidance by corporations and the rich and tax evasion, estimated to cost the state £95bn a year
  • Another is to make the banks pay for free insurance provided to them by the taxpayer: a chief executive at the Bank of England put the cost of this subsidy at £100bn in a single year

Either the tax avoided and evaded in a single year or the taxpayer subsidy to the banking industry could pay for all of the £81bn, four-year cuts programme.

“We are all in this together.”

Since the banking crisis:

David Cameron himself has said that the cuts will change Britain’s “whole way of life”. Every aspect of what was fought for by generations seems under threat – from selling off the forests, privatising health provision, closing the libraries and swimming pools, to scrapping rural bus routes. What Cameron doesn’t say is that the cuts will also disproportionately hit the poor and vulnerable, with cuts to housing benefit, disability living allowance, the childcare element of working tax credits, EMA, the Every Child a Reader programme, Sure Start and the Future Jobs Fund to name a few.

The facts speak for themselves; we are not all in this together, we are paying for the folly of reckless bankers whilst the rich profit.

The government are forced to claim that there is no alternative to making drastic public sector cuts as they know that people would never accept their plan otherwise. By repeating the same lies over and over again, they hope to brainwash people into inaction.

There are alternatives to the cuts, and we are not all in this together. But unless we take action, and take the facts to our friends, our families and those around us, they will get away with it.

Conservative election poster 2010

A few recent news articles about the UK’s Conservative and Liberal-Democrat (Conservative) coalition government – the ConDem’s – brutal attack on the National Health Service.

Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham: It’s time to Drop the Bill – mirror.co.uk

WHEN he was looking for votes, David Cameron made a simple promise on the NHS: If he became PM, there would be no more top-down re-organisations.

He even put it in the Coalition Agreement. But after entering No10, he ordered the biggest and most dangerous upheaval of the NHS since it began in 1948.

GPs don’t want it. Nurses don’t want it. But, most importantly, patients don’t want it – because they can all see it spells the end of the NHS as we know it.

Nye Bevan famously said there would be an NHS for “as long as there are folk left with the faith to fight for it”.

Now that fight is upon us – and I know Mirror readers will sign the petition to save the NHS from this damaging “reform”. Our aim is to rally people in a deafening roar. It’s time for the Government to put the NHS first. It’s time to Drop the Bill.

‘Shock’ over MP’s health links – Community – Skegness Standard

A SKEGNESS councillor has accused a local Conservative MP of walking a dangerous ethical minefield after it was reported that he is paid £50,000 a year to advise a private health firm that stands to make a fortune under Coalition plans for the NHS.

Last week the national press revealed that Boston & Skegness member Mark Simmonds is paid £400 an hour to advise Circle Health, which was the first firm to win control of an NHS hospital under government reforms.

Mr Simmonds has stressed that his involvement with Circle Health is on his official register of interests in parliament and that no rules have been broken.

But Skegness Coun Mark Anderson has spoken of his shock at the news, and has branded it a worrying conflict of interests.

“I’m obviously very concerned about his involvement in this at a time when our own local health care, such as Boston’s Pilgrim Hospital, is having such difficulties.

“There are so many problems at Pilgrim Hospital and he’s even made a statement before that he wouldn’t send his own family there in its current state – and yet he lets his own constituents continue to go there while he’s earning money from private care.

“There are ethical questions here. It’s a sad reflection – it looks like he’s using his position as MP.”
…

Hospitals hit by NHS Croydon deficit (From Kingston Guardian)

Millions of pounds will have to be cut from NHS budgets after a massive hole was discovered in the finances of a neighbouring trust.

Independent auditors were called into NHS Croydon after a deficit of up to £25m was discovered by its financial team.

NHS Kingston will not be asked to bail out the trust but neighbouring NHS Richmond will be asked to increase the surplus it makes this year from £4.2m to £5.6m. Another trust, NHS Wandsworth, will be asked to find £14.5m, up from its original target of £12.3m.

Health campaigner Geoff Martin, of London Health Emergency, said: “In the run-up to the busy winter months, NHS Croydon patients will die unnecessarily as a result of this.

“I think the people who created this crisis and have presided over it should be forced to resign.”

NHS Kingston has been temporarily merged with Croydon, Richmond, Sutton and Merton, and Wandsworth in the run-up to spending power being fully handed over to GP commissioners next April.

A spokesman for the new organisation, called NHS South West London, admitted it had a “significant budgetary challenge” and was developing an action plan to get back into the black, using existing financial resources if possible.

The trusts are already trying to find £64.5m in savings out of their joint £2.2bn budget as part of a review of healthcare in south-west London.

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The House of Lords is to discuss and vote on the Health and Social Care / Destroy the NHS Bill today and tomorrow. There are amendments proposed to delay or abandon the bill.

The Con-Dem coalition government – despite obvious evidence to the contrary – claims widespread support amoung medical practicioners for the proposed reforms.

A further letter by accomplished medical professionals – with a few celebrities thrown in for good measure – makes yet another statement of opposition to the bill and urges the Lords to make major changes.

The new Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham offers to collude with the ConDems overs Clinical Commissioning Groups if the bill is dropped. I’m surprised at this move and don’t agree with it. I was quite impressed with John Healey who has apparently resigned for family reasons.

Some photos of Sunday’s ‘Block the Bridge, Block the Bill’ protest called by UK Uncut.

Conservative election poster 2010

A few recent news articles about the UK’s Conservative and Liberal-Democrat (Conservative) coalition government – the ConDem’s – brutal attack on the National Health Service.

BBC News – Lords to debate controversial NHS shake-up bill

The government’s controversial plans to overhaul the NHS are set to be debated in the Lords.

The Health and Social Care Bill would increase competition and give clinicians control of budgets.

The bill has already been substantially altered following criticism from NHS staff and Liberal Democrat MPs.

But Labour peers are expected to table an amendment calling for it to be dropped altogether, while Lib Dems have vowed to push for further changes.

On Sunday, hundreds of protesters gathered on Westminster Bridge in central London to urge peers to “block the bill”.

And last week almost 400 health professionals and academics wrote to peers asking them to vote against the bill, arguing it would do “irreparable harm to the NHS, to individual patients, and to society as a whole”.

The government says the changes are vital to help the NHS cope with the demands of an ageing population, the costs of new drugs and treatments and the impact of lifestyle factors, such as obesity.

Select committee

The Health and Social Care Bill has been described as the biggest shake-up of the NHS since its creation.

The original plans proved so controversial that the government took the unprecedented step of halting the legislation while it carried out a “listening exercise” with critics – and subsequently altered the bill considerably.

Ministers now say it does have support from the medical profession, but groups such as the Royal College of Nursing and Royal College of GPs have continued to express concern.

Almost 100 peers have requested the chance to speak during the Lords second reading debate on Tuesday and Wednesday. Peers are set to vote on the bill on Wednesday.

Among them, two crossbench peers – Lords Owen and Hennessey – have tabled an amendment calling for part of the bill to be sent to a special select committee – which allows witnesses to give evidence – for further scrutiny.

They say the bill raises serious constitutional issues, particularly aspects relating to the role of the health secretary in overseeing the NHS and the role of a new body, Monitor, in promoting competition within it.
… (article continues)

Related: BBC News – NHS shake-up: The sticking points

Senior doctors revolt against health reforms – Health News, Health & Families – The Independent

More than 60 leading medical professionals have demanded that the Government’s “unpopular and undemocratic” health reforms, which return to Westminster today, be either scrapped or heavily rewritten.

Their call, in a letter to The Independent, increases the pressure on Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, who faces widespread opposition in the House of Lords to the planned overhaul.

Signatories include consultants, surgeons, psychiatrists and paediatricians, as well as midwives and family doctors. They have joined forces with public figures including the actors Julie Christie and David Morrissey, the comedian Russell Brand and the fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood to demand a halt to the reforms. They say that, despite a series of amendments to the Health and Social Care Bill, Mr Lansley’s plans still do not have the support of the public or the profession.

“It is perfectly clear – as the Prime Minister is acutely aware – that the British public does not support the privatisation of the NHS, and it is a matter of fact that no one ever voted for it, and so this current Bill has no democratic mandate whatsoever,” they write.

They call for the “suspension of, or significant amendment of, the Bill in order that it can be supported by a majority of the medical profession and the British public as a whole, who pay for, support and service our great NHS”. The signatories add: “No one is against reform and change, but the NHS is too important and valuable to our society to be transformed forever in this unpopular, undemocratic way.”

Their letter comes as the Bill returns to the House of Lords where it is due to face concerted opposition, with so many peers requesting to speak that business managers have been forced to set aside another day for the debate.

More than 90 members have applied to speak in the Second Reading debate. Attempts will be made to block the Bill or to delay it by referring key parts to a select committee.

Ministers are expected to offer one concession – an amendment designed to spell out more clearly that the Health Secretary has ultimate legal responsibility for the NHS. But there is growing anxiety within the Government that critics could muster enough support to delay the measure.
… (article continues)

Letters: No one voted for the NHS to be privatised – Letters, Opinion – The Independent

As the House of Lords prepares to vote on the NHS and Social Care Bill, it is clear that medical professionals and the British people – despite a protracted listening exercise by the Government – still do not support existing plans for the NHS.

Despite the Prime Minister’s claims to the contrary, it is public fact that every single Royal College representing nurses, GPs and midwives maintain serious concerns about the Bill. The official policy of the British Medical Association is that the Bill be withdrawn.

… (letter continues)

Related: Medical royal colleges join forces to oppose NHS reforms – Telegraph

Management in Practice – Labour to back CCGs if Bill is dropped

Labour will work with the government to reform NHS commissioning but only if the Health Bill is scrapped.

The new Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham has written to the Secretary of State for Health Andrew Lansley, warning the NHS is now in the “danger zone” as he has “failed to build a consensus around his plans”.

Burnham said it is time to “stop digging” and “change course” if patient care is to be protected.

He has pledged his commitment to work alongside the government to develop “true clinician-led commissioning in every locality in England” in return for the withdrawal of the Bill.

Labour believes that such reforms do not need legislation, and could be implemented quickly.

“This approach offers a way ahead that everybody could unite behind,” said Burnham.
… (article continues)

GPs join NHS reform ‘block the bridge’ protest | GPonline.com

Up to 3,000 protestors, many dressed in surgical scrubs, lay down on the bridge in central London at 1pm as a huge ‘Save our NHS’ banner was unfurled across it.

The demonstration came as the House of Lords prepared to debate the Health Bill this week.

Block the Bridge, Block the Bill protest 9 October 2011
Block the Bridge, Block the Bill protest 9 October 2011

GPs including RCGP chairwoman Dr Clare Gerada visited the protest to show their support.

Block the Bridge, Block the Bill protest 9 October 2011
Block the Bridge, Block the Bill protest 9 October 2011

More images

Dr Louise Irvine, a partner at the Amersham Vale Practice, in Lewisham, London said she took part because it was important to show the profession’s anger at the reforms.

‘This Bill has hardly had any scrutiny, it has been rushed through,’ she said. ‘Many MPs have said they didn’t have time to study it properly.’

The reforms were the ‘biggest change to the NHS since it began’, Dr Irvine warned. She argued that the government had no mandate for the reforms, and was trying to implement changes in the face of huge opposition from NHS staff and healthcare organisations.

Dr Irvine said she hoped the House of Lords would delay the Bill for so long that it would run out of time, or throw it out.

‘I’m worried about privatisation and fragmentation of health services, the huge transaction costs of running a market, the loss of accountability of the secretary of state, the postcode lottery as clinical commissioning groups decide what services are available on the NHS,’ she said.

Dr Irvine warned that if the range of services available on the NHS became more limited, patients may be forced to take out private health insurance as a back-up to NHS healthcare.

Dr Julia Hodges, of the Villa Street Practice in Southwark, London, said: ‘Andrew Lansley likes to make out that GPs are backing the Bill and support what he’s doing, but all the surveys of GPs’ attitudes show 60 to 70 per cent do not support it. So it was good to be able to put people straight. I worry our relationship with patients will suffer because of the reforms. They will ask if their GP is benefiting financially from the way they refer. I worry answer may be ‘Yes’ after the Bill.’

But a DoH spokeswoman rejected fears about the NHS reforms. ‘Claims that we aim to privatise the NHS amount to nothing more than ludicrous scaremongering. We have made it crystal clear, time and again, that we will never, ever, privatise the NHS,’ she said.

‘The reality is that we’ve protected the NHS budget, we are giving more power and choice to patients over how they get treated, keeping waiting times low and cutting bureaucracy so more cash gets to the front line.’

[You can’t trust the Tories – or the Lib-Dem Tories – on the NHS]

 

27/11/13 Having received a takedown notice from the Independent newspaper for a different posting, I have reviewed this article which links to an article at the Independent’s website in order to attempt to ensure conformance with copyright laws.

I consider this posting to comply with copyright laws since
a. Only a small portion of the original article has been quoted satisfying the fair use criteria, and / or
b. This posting satisfies the requirements of a derivative work.

Please be assured that this blog is a non-commercial blog (weblog) which does not feature advertising and has not ever produced any income.

dizzy

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Another £75 billion for bankers …

UK Uncut occupy Westminster bridge in protest at the intended abolition of the NHS by the ConDem – Conservative and Liberal-Democrat (Conservative) – coalition government.

Conservative election poster 2010

A few recent news articles about the UK’s Conservative and Liberal-Democrat coalition government – the ConDem’s – brutal attack on the National Health Service.

Central London bridge blocked to save the NHS / Britain / Home – Morning Star

An army of anti-cuts activists occupied London’s Westminster Bridge today for a last-ditch battle to stop the government’s NHS reforms.

Tax avoidance activists UK Uncut led thousands of health workers, pensioners and students who swept onto the bridge for a mass sit-in symbolically located between the Houses of Parliament and the St Thomas hospital across the Thames.

The Block The Bridge, Block The Bill protest took place on the eve a critical House of Lords vote on the Health and Social Care Bill which will hand power to GP consortia and allow private providers into the service en masse.

Tory ministers claim the plans will slash health-care overheads.

But NHS campaigners warn that they will spell the beginning of the end of a state National Health Service.

Public Health for Cumbria director and former UK Public Health Association chairman Dr John Ashton, who joined the protests, said there was real anger across the NHS at the threat to this most cherished public institution.

“This confused and convoluted Bill threatens to undermine the guarantee of health security irrespective of position or wealth and, at the same time, creates the conditions for private health-care companies to come in and cherry-pick profitable parts of care,” he said.

“I am proud that public health specialists have been able to give voice to this anger over the past few days, an anger which has no political boundaries!”

Civil Service union PCS leader Mark Serwotka said that the Bill represents the “gravest threat to the NHS” since its foundation.

“Peaceful protest and civil disobedience have a long and proud history in this country, and are a perfectly legitimate response to plans that no-one voted for and no-one wants,” he said.

“This protest will send an important message of support to the brilliant doctors, nurses and other health-care workers who work day in, day out to make our health service the envy of the world, and an equally important message of opposition to a Tory-led government trying to unpick all of this.”
…

Related: Protesters against NHS reforms occupy Westminster Bridge | Politics | guardian.co.uk BBC News – NHS reform protesters block Westminster Bridge We won’t take this lying down: Thousands of demonstrators force Westminster Bridge to close with protest over Government health reforms | Mail Online

The Stroke Association – Increased waiting times for patients needing NHS physiotherapy

Hospital shuts doors to new admissions | This is Devon

A community hospital in Cornwall has closed its doors to fresh admissions less than a week after it passed from the NHS into private hands.

Poltair Hospital, near Penzance, was forced into the temporary move by shortages caused by the resignation of a member of the nursing team and staff illness.

The unit is one of 14 community hospitals in the county which exactly a week ago was taken over by Peninsula Community Health (PCH), a community interest company outside the NHS.

MP Andrew George, in whose St Ives consistency Poltair Hospital lies, said he was very disturbed by the development.

“This is not a very good start.

“I hope it is the community in whose interest this company is operating.

“To be a success, it has to be transparent and work with the community.”

Mr George, a member of the Commons Health Select Committee who campaigned against the transfer, added that it would not build confidence.

Kevin Baber, Chief Executive of PCH, a not-for-profit company, said the closure for new admissions was a purely temporary measure.

He said all the beds in the hospital were occupied, but until gaps in staffing were resolved, vacancies created when patients were discharged would not be filled.

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‘Health Secretary’ Andrew Lansley’s claims yesterday that 22 NHS trusts had contacted him saying that they had difficulties meeting PFI payments backfired. Lansley’s claims were exposed as misleading and factually incorrect. That Lansley makes misleading and factually incorrect statements is no surprise to those of us that have been watching progress of the Destroy the NHS Bill.

Campaign group UK Uncut intend to occupy Westminster bridge.

Conservative election poster 2010

A few recent news articles about the UK’s Conservative and Liberal-Democrat coalition government – the ConDem’s – brutal attack on the National Health Service.

Hospitals furious at Lansley’s debt claim – Health News, Health & Families – The Independent

Health Secretary ‘undermining stability’ for political ends

Hospitals across the country turned on the Health Secretary Andrew Lansley last night, accusing him of making misleading claims that parts of the NHS were “on the brink of financial collapse” for party political gain.

Senior NHS managers expressed anger that Mr Lansley had singled out 22 trusts, whose “clinical and financial stability” was being undermined by having to pay for prohibitively expensive private finance contracts – used to build their new hospitals.

Mr Lansley claimed the trusts had contacted him saying that they “cannot afford” to pay for their schemes which were agreed by the previous Labour government.

But when contacted by The Independent a number of NHS trusts on the list expressed bemusement and anger that they had been included, and said the first they knew of the supposed financial difficulties over PFI (private finance initiatives) was when they read about Mr Lansley’s comments.

Privately some accused the Health Secretary of attempting to blame PFI for the wider problem of cuts to hospital budgets, which will require the NHS to save £20bn over the next four years. They also expressed concern that Mr Lansley was unnecessarily worrying patients that their local hospital was in danger of going bankrupt. “To suggest that our financial problems are about PFI is nonsense,” said one trust executive. “And we certainly never contacted the Department to say that. The problems that we face are about having to cut our budgets by 4 per cent every year for the next four years.”
…

UK Uncut plan to block Westminster Bridge in protest against NHS reforms | UK news | guardian.co.uk

Thousands expected to join direct action on 9 October and block bridge leading to parliament

Anti-cuts campaigners are planning to close one of the busiest bridges in central London in protest against the government’s planned shake up of the NHS.

UK Uncut has announced an “act of mass civil disobedience” at Westminster Bridge in protest against the health and social care bill which is due before parliament next month.

Organisers say they are expecting thousands of people to block the bridge that links St Thomas’s hospital in the south to parliament to the north on 9 October.

“Yes, it will be disruptive. Yes, it will stop the traffic. But this is an emergency and if we want to save our NHS we need to shout as loud as we can,” the group said in a statement.

Activists say they have been talking to unions, NGOs and other direct action groups who all support the action.

UK Uncut supporter Samina Khan said: “A leading doctor has said that this bill will ‘produce an underclass of patients with chronic, debilitating illness’, which isn’t surprising when you invite private companies to exploit people’s sickness for profit. I’ll be on the bridge so that when my kids ask me what happened to the NHS, I can at least say ‘I tried’.”
…

 

27/11/13 Having received a takedown notice from the Independent newspaper for a different posting, I have reviewed this article which links to an article at the Independent’s website in order to attempt to ensure conformance with copyright laws.

I consider this posting to comply with copyright laws since
a. Only a small portion of the original article has been quoted satisfying the fair use criteria, and / or
b. This posting satisfies the requirements of a derivative work.

Please be assured that this blog is a non-commercial blog (weblog) which does not feature advertising and has not ever produced any income.

dizzy

Continue ReadingNHS news review

NHS news review – UK Uncut’s Emergency Operation

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This NHS news review posting is concerned with campaigning group UK Uncut’s ‘Emergency Operation’ day of campaigning on Saturday. UK Uncut occupied banks drawing attention to the fact that bankers enjoy huge government funding while the NHS is being starved of funding and abolished. This is the first major campaign by UK Uncut since the mass arrests of UK Uncut activists at Fortnum & Mason on 26 March.

New statesman reports that that there were 40 UK Uncut actions. There are reports of arrests at Manchester and Edinburgh, Scotland. There are reports of undercover police officers attending the actions.

In an unusual show of support UK Uncut events were supported by Unite and the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) unions who encouraged their members to participate. PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said at the unions annual conference on 18 May “For years our union has been at the forefront of the tax justice campaign, and we are proud to support UK Uncut that has popularised our message that the real fraudsters and the real scroungers are to be found in the boardrooms not in the jobcentres.”

http://www.unitetheunion.org/news__events/latest_news/unite_backs_uk_uncut_s_banks_a.aspx
Rachael Maskell, Unite’s national officer for the health sector, welcomes UK Uncut’s action: “The greed of a few and the failure to regulate brought our banking system and the economy to their knees but government expects the ordinary people of this country to pick up the tab.

“We must not allow the profit-first value to destroy our NHS.

“For over sixty years, this country has upheld the principles of quality, universal care where the patient’s needs comes before private greed every time. We are now at the most worrying juncture in the NHS’ history with the government is poised to let market values rip through the service. As Bevan said, the NHS will survive as long as there are people to fight for it. Now is the moment to fight.”

http://london.indymedia.org/articles/9172
UK Uncut’s Call to Action:

“The NHS will last as long as there are folk left to fight for it.”
– Nye Bevan, founder of the NHS

“Andrew Lansley. Greedy Andrew Lansley. Tosser.”
– MC NxtGen

This is an emergency. The welfare state is in peril. Under the guise of ‘efficiency’ and ‘reform’, this government is plotting to cut the NHS and sell off what’s left. Andrew Lansley has claimed the government is in a ‘listening exercise’ about the proposed NHS ‘reforms’. But despite widespread outcry from doctors, nurses and the public the government isn’t listening to anyone apart from private healthcare lobbyists.

Let’s make Lansley listen. We want to keep our healthy NHS and fix our broken banking system. Whilst the NHS is being dismantled, the banks that caused this crisis in the first place have been left untouched. Reckless gambling, obscene bonuses and a global financial crisis are symptoms of a disease that requires a drastic intervention.

The banks are due a check-up. On Saturday May 28th, join UK Uncut’s Emergency Operation and transform your local high street bank into a hospital. Tell the government to leave our NHS alone; it’s the banks that are sick.

Turn HSBC into a hospital, fill Natwest with nurses, get bandaged in Barclays and operate in RBS. As usual, it’s up to you to organise an action in your area – so talk to your friends, your local union branch and anti-cuts group and then list an action on our website. All the resources you’ll need will be on our website, including a flyer to tell the public about the NHS emergency. Get organised, get creative and let’s make Lansley listen: leave our NHS alone and make the banks pay.

See you on the high streets.

On a totally different topic: Take a look at these

Conservative election poster 2010

A few recent news articles concerning the UK’s Conservative and Liberal-Democrat coalition government – the ConDem’s – brutal attack on the National Health Service.

http://www.ukuncut.org.uk/actions/gallery

Anti-cuts groups descend on banks in NHS protest | UK news | guardian.co.uk

Protesters have been holding demonstrations outside high street banks around the UK and have succeeded in occupying a number of branches in the biggest direct action to date against proposed changes to the NHS.

The national protest, designed to draw attention to the banks’ role in creating the deficit, is being spearheaded by the anti-austerity campaigning group UK Uncut, which has been were joined by trade unionists and others.

Activists dressed in doctors’ coats and armed with fake blood had planned to enter branches and set up mock hospitals and “operating theatres”. Instead they mostly staged their protests on the streets outside when branches were closed or police kept them out.

After assembling shortly before midday in London, close to 100 protesters staged actions outside three banks in Camden and held a mock trial of the health secretary, Andrew Lansley. Other groups were able to enter a Natwest bank in Brixton and a branch of RBS in Islington and stage protests inside.

“The NHS did not cause the financial crisis – the banks did and are continuing to make billions in profits. And yet it is the NHS which is being cut,” said Candy Udwin of the Camden Keep Our NHS Public campaign, which took part in north London.

“Here in Camden there are hundreds of jobs under threat and that is why protests like this are being strongly supported.”

…

New Statesman – UK Uncuts hosts 40 direct actions in protest at NHS reforms

The protest group, UK Uncut, yesterday hosted 40 direct actions across the country – the most significant number the group has made since many of its members were arrested outside Fortnum and Mason on the March 26th March for the Alternative. Yesterday’s actions were subtitled the “Emergency Operation” on the group’s website and were directed against the Coalition’s wavering reforms of the NHS headed by Andrew Lansley.

One of the first actions to be held left Soho Square at 11am Saturday morning and I accompanied the group from its meeting point to the target of protest in Camden Town.

The UK Uncut members – dressed as medical workers, bankers and members of the judiciary – were trailed by several police, in riot vans and on foot, from their meeting point through the London Underground and to the intended target of a Natwest bank branch in Camden Town.

Upon arrival, unable to gain access to the bank due to a large police presence blocking the entrance doorway, the protesters acted out set pieces, chanted and handed out leaflets to passers-by on the pavement outside several bank branches in the Camden area for several hours in the central Camden area. The protest eventually culminated in a mock trial of Andrew Lansley.

…

BBC News – Arrests after UK Uncut protest in Manchester Santander

Activists protesting against proposed changes to the NHS were arrested after briefly occupying a bank in Manchester.

Nine people were held on suspicion of breach of the peace after campaigners entered the city centre Santander.

Campaign group UK Uncut was staging a series of protests calling for the banks, rather than cuts to public services, to pay for the deficit.

The government said “every penny” saved by NHS efficiencies would be spent on front-line services for patients.

Activists targeted banks to highlight what they described as the injustice of “making people, not the broken banking system, pay for the economic crisis”.

…

Police defend corporate criminals: arrests at Edinburgh Uncut action | Indymedia Scotland

Denouncing tax dodging by big companies and opposing cuts in public services, people took action at Boots, Vodaphone and BHS shops in Edinburgh on Saturday 28 May. Imaginative street theatre saw tax avoiding bosses detained by the Big Society Revenue and Customs Inspectors. But police acted to defend the tax-dodging criminals against Edinburgh Uncut’s protests, arresting, detaining and charging two women.

After several hours of peaceful protest at three city centre shops, police suddenly grabbed two women at British Home Stores on Princes Street. One woman fell to the ground. Police twisted her arms behind her back and handcuffed her, causing her pain and distress. The prisoners were taken to St Leonards and people quickly descended on the police station in solidarity, numbers later swelling as around 40-50 people arrived from the Reclaim the Night march. The women were released after around 5 hours in custody. Both were charged with Breach of the Peace and the woman who was hurt by the police was also charged with “Resisting Arrest”.

…

UK Indymedia – Plain clothes FIT at #ukuncut protests. Cops use ‘Breach of the Peace’ strategy

…

The police should only arrest for breach of the peace when they reasonable believe there is an imminent risk of violence. This seems unlikely to have been the case in Manchester. Certainly when Cardiff occupiers of Topshop were threatened with arrest to prevent a BOP they were doing nothing more violent than sitting on the shop floor. The officer in charge didnt seem comfortable with it either. When a legal observer gave protesters a quick briefing on the law of BOP she threw her hands in the air, and was later reported to have moaned that she “couldn’t do anything because of those bloody legal observers..’

As well as using dodgy reasons to try and arrest people, the police were also up to their old intelligence gathering tricks. While things were low key, and there was a general absence of obvious FIT cops and cameras, there were instances of systematic data gathering. Cardiff occupiers, for example, were photographed individually by uniformed and plain clothes cops using their Blackberry’s. One of them happily explained that the pictures were for the ‘intelligence log’.

There was no doubt this time about the identity of the plain clothes cops because strangely, they came and introduced themselves, giving both name and number. Their details are shown above. It’s not at all clear why they were being so candid. Perhaps they were being genuinely friendly and open. Or perhaps they identified themselves as police officers in order to get round the restrictive authorisations needed for covert surveillance. Anyway, we are happy to be able to put them on the blog.

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