Ecuador’s election wasn’t free — and its people will pay the price under President Noboa
May's long-awaited 'plan' won't heal an NHS cut to ribbons by Tory policies
JOHN LISTER asks what the future holds for the health service in light of government refusal to provide it with proper funds
NHS empty ward stock photo
Join the traditional march from Clerkenwell Green, which will bring together countless international workers’ organisations in a statement against the far right
The money tap to anti-Cuban agitators will never be shut off under Trump
Mountains of research show that hardcore material harms children, yet there are still no simple measures in place
We face austerity, privatisation, and toxic influence. But we are growing, and cannot be beaten
Trump’s economic adviser has exposed the actual strategy: forcing other countries to provide financial support for US hegemony
Activist Angie Zelter has been arrested more than a hundred times. She’s not stopping now, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
THE repeated postponement of the 10-year “long-term plan for the NHS” called for during the summer by Theresa May is partly a product of the fixation on Brexit — but partly a reflection of the cleft stick in which NHS England is trapped.
The NHS is saddled with a massive staff shortage exacerbated by eight years of real-terms pay cuts for staff and the increased pressures on front-line staff, and a wholly inadequate budget which we now know is set to continue falling behind increased costs for another five years.
But it is also lumbered with a fragmented structure and legislation (Andrew Lansley’s 2012 Health and Social Care Act) that squanders resources on carving up services and contracting, and blocks any effective strategic planning or collaboration.
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Behind Starmer’s headline-grabbing abolition of NHS England lies a ruthless drive to centralise control so that cuts of £6.6 billion can be made — even if it means reducing cancer services and clinical staff, writes JOHN LISTER
Relatively recently the health service was at its peak — to reverse the incredible damage done by the Tories since 2010 we need billions going straight into state provision, writes JOHN LISTER
Labour’s 24-page manifesto for the health service carefully avoids explaining how any of it will be paid for and provided. This is more than worrying, writes JOHN LISTER
Higher funds are critical to prevent the growth of privatisation by allowing the NHS to expand capacity and reduce the vast 6-million-plus waiting list, writes JOHN LISTER
