Which way will they vote? This Wednesday the House of Lords makes a choice. They could wave through the government’s dangerous NHS plans. Or they could insist on proper scrutiny and big changes to protect our health service.
The press say it’s on a knife edge. It could come down to one or two votes. [1] Together we can help tip the balance. If we can prove that the public wants Lansley’s plans put under the microscope, we can convince wavering Lords and Baronesses to stand up to the government and vote the right way.
Thousands of us have written personally to Lords and Baronesses. We know our message is starting to get through. Now let’s show wavering Lords just how many of us want them to vote to protect our NHS – by building a huge, people powered petition.
The vote is on Wednesday afternoon, and we’ll need to deliver the petition just before it starts. Please add your name now:
An influential Lord, David Owen, has announced he will call a vote to put Lansley’s NHS plan under the microscope, by creating a special ‘select committee’. [2] The committee would investigate key concerns of ours – like scrapping of the Secretary of State’s “duty to provide” health services. We can win this vote! And if we do, it will be a massive boost to our chances of stopping dangerous changes to the NHS being forced through.
The government doesn’t want this to happen. They’re doing all they can to pressure Lords to toe the line. [3] We can outweigh that pressure with people power. Let’s prove to the Lords that the government doesn’t speak for us. We never voted for this dangerous NHS plan and we can show our support for Lords’ efforts to stop it.
Please take 30 seconds to add your name to the urgent petition to the House of Lords:
There’s a lot at stake here. We all rely on the NHS to look after us and to look after our loved ones. We know that if the government’s plans go through unchanged, we could lose our health service forever. The House of Lords could be our best hope of protecting our health service for future generations.
Thousands of 38 Degrees members have sent personal emails to Lords and Baronesses, telling them why the NHS matters so much. Now let’s back that up with big numbers. Let’s build a huge petition to the Lords to show them how many of us support efforts to protect the health service.
Johnny, Marie, Cian, David, Becky, Hannah & the 38 Degrees team
P.S. Yesterday, Lord Owen told Channel 4 News “I believe that if this Bill is introduced, in ten years’ time the NHS will be unrecognisable. It’s a great sadness to me.”. Let’s get behind his motion to stop that happening- add your name to the emergency petition now:https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/message-to-lords
[2] Lord Owen isn’t the only Lord who’s written an amendment to put the bill under the microscope, or stop it completely. But Lord Owen’s amendment has the greatest chance of success. The full text of Lord Owen’s amendment reads:
“And that a Select Committee shall be appointed to examine and make recommendations to the House on the issues raised by the 18th Report of the Constitution Committee, namely the Government’s and Parliament’s constitutional responsibilities with regard to the NHS, in particular to clarify (a) the extent to which the Secretary of State remains responsible and accountable for the comprehensive health service, and (b) individual Ministerial responsibility to Parliament, and to report on the extent to which legal accountability to the courts is fragmented; that this House requests that the services of Parliamentary Counsel be available to the Committee; and that the Committee shall report no later than 19 December 2011.”
