Hazel Blears: health hypocrisy
Posted on Thursday 28 December, 2006
Filed Under Uncategorized
Press release from NHS campaign Health Emergency:
Health campaigners today blasted cabinet minister Hazel Blears – pictured – for ‘rank hypocrisy’ after she joined protesters fighting the closure of the maternity unit at Hope Hospital in her Salford constituency – one of 29 acute hospitals facing closure or downgrading up and down the country as a direct result of central government policy.
Blears – Labour Party Chairwoman – was involved earlier this year in the infamous “NHS Heat Map” briefing with Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt where the political fall out of the cuts and closure programme in Labour-held seats was assessed.
Back in the spring Dr John Reid joined protesters outside the gates of Monklands Hospital in his Airdrie constituency opposing the closure of the A&E department.
Geoff Martin, Health Emergency Head of Campaigns, said:
“Here we have cabinet ministers, totally bound up in the Government’s hospital cuts and closure programme, riding on the backs of anti-cuts campaigns in their own constituencies in a bid to save their own political skins. Frankly, it stinks.
“There are 29 hospitals up and down the country facing the immediate threat of cuts and closure to key services in 2007. Will Hazel Blears be joining demonstrators on the streets in each of those areas or is this just a classic case of ‘not in my back yard’?
“If the closure of maternity services is wrong in Salford it is wrong in all those other parts of the country as well and Blears should be piling on pressure to ditch the cuts policy or she should resign.”
UPDATE: The BBC has picked up on this story. Ms Blears has accordingly come in for some stick. Nice work, Geoff.
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5 Responses to “Hazel Blears: health hypocrisy”
Is anyone surprised?
Not really.
The woman couldn’t be sincere if she tried.
Another Labour Minister has turned her back on collective Cabinet responsibility, this time it was Karen Buck, a former Minister. She has just withdrawn her son from Paddington City Academy saying it was’too appalling’. Laugh out loud.
Is anyone surprised?
Nope. I’m not surprised either.
of course we’re not surprised but we have to track down the stench of hypocrisy and blow it open…dirty job but someones gotta do it
and Blair’s freebie with the Bee Gees? That’s sute to make you vomit…
Geoff Martin