State machinery was widely employed to secure favourable outcomes in India’s recent regional elections against three progressive regional governments who dared to challenge Narendra Modi, asserts VIJAY PRASHAD
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Market methods have failed the NHS – we need investment, in-sourcing and stability of services
HELEN O'CONNOR says the Autumn Statement risks confirming a disastrous strategy that has bled the health service white
It is too early to assume a US defeat in Iran — we must prepare for a long anti-war struggle, argues JOHN ROSS
ROGER McKENZIE says the ANC needs to respect South Africa’s Communists and their decision to stand independently at elections
KENNY MacASKILL remembers the woman who first translated The Communist Manifesto into English
The election offers a critical chance to shape the future of pay, care and community provision in Wales, says Unison’s JESS TURNER
As Scotland heads to the polls, the main parties offer variations on the same script, says MATT KERR
THE NHS spend in 2021-22 was £152 billion but in spite of this, NHS trusts have suffered budgetary shortfalls of approximately £2bn each year since 2015. The relentless demand for efficiency savings and non-stop restructuring has led to ward closures, bed counts dropping, and services being privatised.
Over the last 10 years the NHS has lost 25,000 beds on the pretext of “care being moved into the community” but what has happened is that the public are waiting longer than ever before for care and treatment on the NHS. Eye-watering sums of public money are flowing into the private sector with minimum scrutiny, contract compliance or accountability.
Even before the pandemic struck, the “modernisation of the NHS” driven by a ruthless programme of cuts and privatisation had led to a rise in waiting lists for elective care.
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In the second part of her critique of Wes Streeting’s TenYear Plan for Health, HELEN MERCER looks at the central planks of this privatisation blueprint
We need a massive change in direction to renew a crumbling health service — that’s why Plaid Cymru has an ambitious plan to recentre primary care by recruiting 500 additional GPs and opening six new elective care hubs across Wales, writes MABON AP GWYNFOR
Reversing outsourcing is the pre-election promise the government must honour, says Unison general secretary CHRISTINA McANEA
