Politicians V THE PEOPLE

This video recorded at the recent Labour party conference here in the UK, will resonate with all of you, no matter which country you are from.
Please give this wonderful and amazing 91 year old man, who IS Harry Smith just 8 minutes of your time.



Our NHS is for all its current problems, something we Brits are proud of and an institution that other countries wish they had.

Harry Smith for PM!

Well done sir!


Jane

a reply to: angelchemuel

That man, personifies, exemplifies, epitomises the very core of the values of the Labour movement. Unlike the Eton mess which sits at the top of party politics on virtually all relevant sides these days, this gentleman HAS experienced poverty, IS representing his people as he stands there at that podium. You may not be able to trust the word of a Member of Parliament, and you might not be able to trust the word of a Minister for This, or a Secretary of That, or their opposite number on the opposition side of the House, but you can damned well see that this man speaks a truth which cannot be subverted by fine words, or complicated mathematical formulae.

He has lived through things in peace, that many today have not experienced in times of war. He was part of the generation which laid the groundwork for the NHS, a generation in which the Labour party was truly a party for and by the people, representative of its working majority, representative of those who bore the greatest burdens, who were most harrowed by the mechanism by which the country operated at the time.

It is a great shame that Mr Harry Smith has had to live to see an age in which the NHS has started to backslide into privatisation, to see an age where the Labour Party itself has been infested by Eton educated rich kids, rather than staying true to its working mans roots, to see an age where the very people that the Labour Party were supposed to represent, are left voiceless and unrepresented by the policies, and the Parliamentarians of that party. His thoughts on the importance of the NHS remaining utterly nationalised echo my own. He reminds me quite a lot of my grandfather actually, who was also a vocal, and energetic supporter of Labour values in his community.

From his perspective, he does not want to watch the mistakes of years gone by, repeated, with regard to the horrific implications of health provision which only assists those who can pay through the nose for it. From my perspective as a relatively young person (29), I do not want to see these things repeated either. I do not want to see the NHS privatised, I do not want to see the needy turned away because they have nothing to pay for their treatment with, to see suffering through poverty of that scale and depth ever again visited upon the people. But also, I want to keep business out of the NHS, because this generation owes it to those which came before, to do better, and to do that we must first ensure that we do not do worse, that we do not unlearn the lessons of the past, which we learned through the pain and suffering of the long dead.

Mr Harry Smith reminds us here, that the NHS is not some structure which appeared out of no where, but a thing which was created out of suffering, to ease pain, to prevent needless death, to do protect the vulnerable and the sick, and to be available to all people, without exception, no matter their lack of wealth. I believe we owe it to those who trod these streets, these mountain paths, these dew sodden downs, and these foggy moors before us, to ensure that the legacy they left us is made best use of, made stronger, not weaker, made more independent from the private sector, not more reliant upon it, and made more powerful in its ability to cure sickness of every kind, to diagnose and treat more and more ailments.

We owe those who came before us at least that much.

a reply to: TrueBrit

Thank you for dropping by and, as always, in your own inimitable fashion, summarising the video. Much appreciated True.


Jane

a reply to: angelchemuel

Thank YOU for posting the video!!

This is a topic I have always felt very strongly about, but I am sorry to ramble on so and make your thread all untidy with waffle!

a reply to: TrueBrit

Not at all....it appears to be a thread for two voices. I'm just sad more folk haven't passed their views on it.....hey ho...on we go......


Jane

a reply to: angelchemuel

Well, it is a topic which many of our American cousins do not know how to respond to. Our system here is very different from theirs, for a start, and those who appreciate the finer nuances of a socially lead health service, would rather avoid entering the discussion, against the possibility that some douche will come along ranting about the evils of socialism (which saved the working class of this country, I might add. Respect it people!).

Those of us here in the UK, even the Tory voters, know deep down that the NHS as a nationalised entity is better off as being a national institution, than a business, because health care offered by people who are there to fulfil a need within themselves to do caring work, is without question preferable to health care provision which, at every turn, seeks to protect profits at the expense of patient care.