Tories are seeking to privatise the NHS
IT was the Second World War and the sacrifice of 40 million lives – friend and foe – that inspired some UK Lab/Lib voters in 1945 to hope Britain could live by beliefs that “all shall care for each, and each shall care for all”. So the NHS was established in 1948.
Many UK voters supported the NHS, not for ethical reasons, beyond their comprehension, but for practical, family reasons, binding them together.
Only Conservative voters, intending to bring back the injustice of the 1930s, condemned the NHS as wasting public money. When defeated, Conservatives pretended to support it, so when in power, they could privatise sections, making private profits for shareholders’ clutching hands. Greed is Conservatives’ only motivation.
Mrs Thatcher is still their idol. She cancelled public money on milk for schoolchildren’s health, the biggest single possible investment in the next generation. She privatised what she could.
For 80 years, owners of media, commerce, advertising and social media have spread Conservative self-centredness into children’s minds. And now the 14 million who voted for “what best suits me”, are disgusted with what they got, but too bigoted to blame themselves.
They will vote Labour, in anger, but without comprehending the principles which inspired the lives of some of their grandparents, so their self-obsession will revolt at Labour policies to serve all citizens.
Rishi Sunak urges us all to be “pragmatic”, which is exactly where Conservatives thought they were being smart – “looking after number one”. It is too late for them ever to learn.
CN Westerman Via email