THEY WALK AMONG US!

John Taylor appears to have developed a kind of sincerity beyond normal bounds, being that he is able to put his name to a premise in which he does not agree and then agrees with what he reads!

Once again, as we are subjected the weekly bafflingly ridiculous political propaganda from the pen of Cllr John Taylor, (or whoever it is who ghosts his letters) it is becoming increasingly obvious that whoever it is who creates this literal 'jibber-jabber' has convinced himself that he is a man confidently adorned in the finest raiment’s of reason, but when analysed, we find that he is barely able to dress himself!

This week, the focus of his one-sided observations fell on the NHS and the dreaded ‘threat’ of ‘privatisation’ - a debate which I predict will become more to the fore as we near the next General Election.

Now it may have passed the intrepid Labour councillor by, or maybe he purely chose to not mention it, but the irrefutable fact is; from its inception when Aneurin Bevan opened the first National Health hospital in Manchester, the private sector played a large role in the setting up of the NHS, and has done so ever since!

The irony here is that although all political parties have remained wedded to the principal of ‘free at the point of use’ the Labour party decided from the very beginning to depend entirely on the private sector for the crucial supply of drugs, medicines and other essential medical supplies. To this day the NHS would collapse if not for the large pharmaceutical and medical supplies companies on which it depends for everything from headache pills to x-ray equipment, hi-tech' screening devices and MRI scanners, to everyday bandages and bedpans.

John Taylor also missed out reminding us that it was none other than the Labour government who did in fact break their own promise of ‘free at the point of need’ by introducing ‘prescription charges’ which admittedly have subsequently been accepted by all governments ever since as a modification to the main ‘free’ principle.

Then of course we have our local GPs who from the creation of the NHS have remained ‘private sector businesses’ - who earn much of their living from NHS contract payments. This is why many of our local GPs are able to perform private sector work in their surgeries, charge for offering holiday and travel advice, vaccinations, private consultations, work for legal cases and the like, all for very attractive fees and charges. Let’s also not forget that most GPs arrange their own properties, finance their own practises and hire their own staff. Some also run their own dispensing service to earn additional revenue.

Although the Conservatives did open certain NHS services to private sector contractors, to look after cleaning, provide the meals and some of the other ‘hotel style’ services, likewise whilst in office Labour argued that good quality care free at the point of use, could be done more quickly and more cheaply and better by buying in service from the private sector and paying for it with NHS funds for patients in order to relieve shortages of capacity in particular specialities and to reduce the waiting lists.

I'd like to bet that most of us know someone whose had surgery on the NHS at The Alex' or another 'BUPA' style hospital, who say, 'they were treated like Kings!'

I therefore treat the councillor’s diatribe to make a political issue out of a Tory ‘threat’ for further privatisation with total contempt; unless of course John Taylor is saying that the Labour party, under Red Ed’ will be announcing step-change policies in their pre-election manifesto, were Labour; who employed and actively encouraged the extensive use of the private sector when last in power, would now want to nationalise General Practitioners and drug companies should they ever to get back into office.

As far as I can see, there is absolutely no threat from any political party to the idea that the NHS should not be free at the point of need to those who want it. Which is, in effect, all people want to know! And despite his continual political scaremongering, to the contrary, I suspect Cllr Taylor and his political masters in London know it too!

Another point to consider when listening to Cllr Taylor’s criticism of the private sector, is why, considering his apparent principled stance against anything ‘private’, the councillor of which he is a major policy maker, has not offered to resign over the councils increasing practice of handing out lucrative contracts for once council run services to private companies? A practice that even his own Trade Union brothers in UNISON criticise.

Maybe he could start by justifying the average monthly spend of over £6million with INSPIREDSPACES TAMESIDE LIMITED?

Perhaps he could also justify the £900,000 that was over-paid by Tameside Council to Meridian Healthcare in 2011, for care home beds that were never used! Or the millions awarded to Carillion for facilities Management and housekeeping services, not to mention the hundreds of £millions his council has signed away in PFI contracts?

Of course we will not get an answer to all this, but I predict that next week’s ‘Letter from Ducky’ will revert to his default dialogue on ‘local history’!