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The Tories can't privatise the NHS in one swoop. Their plan has always been to execute a series of well planned attacks on our public health service. The Covid-19 crisis is being used as cover for one of these well planned attacks and people need to know about it: 1/9
Healthcare workers, Doctors, and campaigners warned in early May that the government was using the crisis to transfer key public health services to the private sector. The first warning came surrounding Serco and the track and trace system. But this was just the start. 2/9
We have since seen a host of private firms win tax-payer funded commisions relating to the crisis. These include Deloitte, KPMG, Mitie, Boots and Palantir. The Health Department then centralised the purchase of PPE, effectively handing full control to private entities. 3/9
. @AllysonPollock warned at the time that the new structures were "completely divorced from local residents, local health services and local communities.” @CatHobbs also noted that the "pandemic is being used to privatise yet more of our NHS against the wishes of the public." 4/9
It's no secret that the government was helping private companies creep into the NHS before Covid-19. But it seems to be accelerating this drive with the pandemic as its cover. There's precedent for this of course and this is well explored by Philip Morowski in his 2013 book. 5/9
Morowski recently did a great interview with @alexdoherty7 for @poltheoryother where he discussed the way that neoliberalism would exploit the crisis. There's a write up of the interview here with Tribune: https://tribunemag.co.uk/2020/05/how-neoliberalism-will-exploit-the-coronavirus-crisis 6/9
The latest move in this attack was the voting down of the Clause that would have legally protected the 'public' aspect of the NHS from trade deals. The Clause would have prohibited the government from striking any deal which would "undermines" the NHS. 7/9
As we continue to suffer from the terrible handling of the crisis in the UK we have a government that is continuing to engage in a process that encourages the creeping privatisation of healthcare services in the UK. It is sickening that this is happening even now. 8/9
When Bevan resigned from the cabinet in 1951 over the introduction of prescription and dental charges he said it was the "beginning of the destruction" of the NHS. Unfortunately he was right and this process continues to this day. We've got to stop it. 9/9
