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King Edward VII's Hospital (Private) |
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| The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (NHS) |
Not everyone is impressed with Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley 's plans for "improvements" in the NHS.
[Warning: Those of a sensitive nature may be offended by some of the language used in the video link.]
The latest twist in the 'Royal Wedding' saga suggests that the Prime Minister will after all wear morning dress as protocol demands rather than a lounge suit when Prince William marries Kate Middleton. Forest sell-off, NHS reform anddress sense problems; the prime Minister appears to be more than a little accident prone.
That must put his judgement into question over his reported mean snub to Gordon Brown's candidature for Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. Commentators vary in their opinions but for a former 'communications' man, how do Dave's U-turns suit you Sir - or Madam?
As theTelegraphcorrectlypredicted, yesterday the Health Secretary admitted at the dispatch box that his personal crusade to change the Health Service was having the brakes applied by the Prime Minister. While most questioners on the government benches did their valiant best to support Mr Lansley, the most interesting intervention came from Stephen Dorrell, tory Chairman of the all-party Health Select Committee with counter proposals reported here.
The Government came badly unstuck when a BMA survey showed that doctors are "uncertain whether the benefits of the government's plans to reform the NHS in England outweigh the risks". When Liberal Democrats rebelled big changes were indicated. Others have now taken-up the fight including the campaigning group 38 Degrees encouraged by their success in the forestry sell-off campaign.
Why Mr Lansley thinks that GPs are best placed to spend £80 billion of tax payers money because 'they know their patients' is a mystery after many have spent years getting as remote from patients as possible with nurse-led clinics and 'out-of-hours' care handed to God knows who. As for patient choice, if Mr Lansley wants to base the case for change on his personal experience, his is unlikely to be mirrored by others. How many patients have sufficient independent advice to be able to make a judgement and if they do, would they want to upset their GP by claiming to know better? Personal experience suggests not.
There are problems in the NHS but there is no mandate from the electorate for the major changes being proposed. For most people the NHS, despite its failings, is amongst the best of what is left of Great Britain. If not signalled in party manifestos major changes should be made only with all party agreement not driven through as part of a personal crusade.
Watching yesterday's debate on the future of the NHS it was hard to detect any hint that the Government had heeded the misgivings of professionals bar those they choose to listen to for the advice they wish to hear.
Watching David Willett's performance on TV this morning he seemed unable to to give a straight answer to any of the questions put to him but it looks clear that education may be going the same way as health care. If you can afford it, you can have it. Otherwise it is a lottery.
Like naughty children, they listen when they have to then carry on as before until brought up with a severe jolt. They didn't get one after last Thursday's votes but their cockiness may yet be their undoing when it really counts. The privileged remain so, the desperately poor get help while the people in the middle continue to bear the brunt. For how long will that be tolerated?
The 'listening' exercise.
Postscript
Reactions to yesterday's re-launch from the Independent, Mirror and Guardian.
Along with some of the rest of the population, the Prime Minister and his Chancellor have scraped enough together to take a Summer holiday - or two! David Cameron choseTuscany while George Osborne has chosenHollywood to provide some relief from the miserable economic outlook to which he has become accustomed during his stewardship.
With the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg in Spain, William Hague has been left in charge to cope with any little difficulties that may arise to accompany the continuing problems facing the Government such as poor economic growth, the phone-hacking scandal, the NHS anddefence to name but a few.
We all need a break!
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| Photograph: Wpa Pool/Getty Images |
All smiles but the reality is different. The latest depressing report illustrates the plight of patients in NHS hospitals with dementia. Can anyone be surprised? There have been endless reports of problems in the NHS and care homes where nurses don't care as they should followed by promises to do something about it but the chances are, unless you are one of the privileged few, you have a high chance of dying in misery in a care home or hospital, disorientated, dirty, dehydrated and thoroughly depressed. Yes, there are pockets of excellence which politicians and the fortunate praise as shining example of the modern NHS but they are far outweighed by reports of poor care by people who seem to regard patients as fodder simply to keep them employed with the minimum of effort. Read about it here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here.... . The reports are endless. In January 2010 Michael Parkinson in his role as the government's dignity ambassador condemned standards in care homes and hospitals as "downright unacceptable". In January 1999 a two-yea r campaign to improve "shocking levels of ill treatment" for elderly people in hospital began but we are still reading about it more than twelve years later.
This from a former dedicated nurse: "What has happened to basic nursing care, to observation, to humanity? Excuses citing undermanned wards, overworked staff simply will not do. If we were short staffed we worked twice as hard to ensure patient comfort. Nursing has never been an "easy jobdanquot;, working long hours without overtime pay, sacrificing a social life are just a few examples encountered but the rewards were so good, seeing patients get well and return home, which was surely why nursing was chosen by many, when vocation was an easily understood word."
There is nothing to smile about. The system has failed. Government ministers should stop talking it up and get back to basics. The old system worked so get nurses out of college and back on the wards to learn patient care, hands on.
Government plans for reform of the National Health Service are under fire before they have been officially published. While cutting expenditure left, right and centre the Government has already made a start in lining the pockets of the private sector. The average patient may be more than a little bemused that General Practices that cannot cope with patient demands for appointments will be expected to spend billions of pounds trying to arrange appropriate care from a business led delivery service which puts profit first.
Despite his Freudian slip, Mr Cameron heaps praise on the NHS based on his family's experience of maternity care and the care of his disabled child. If I were PM or any other high profile minister with my wife in a maternity hospital I would be amazed if the staff didn't ensure that the service provided was more than adequate. In reality there are endless stories of crises in the maternity service. At the other end of life's span, 'care' of the elderly is often atrocious sometimes bordering on cruelty. Treatment for Illness during life's journey can be a lottery. The care Ivan Cameron received before his early death was clearly appreciated by his bereaved parents but is not typical. He benefited from a purpose-built medical centre in the basement of his home but many have tostruggle to survive, often in poverty and receive indifferent care when it is needed most.
Whatever Mr Cameron's experience of the NHS it certainly isn't typical. He benefits from a system in which private care is available to the wealthy until complex treatment is needed, then the NHS picks up the tab. That change is necessary is undeniable. Whether this is the way to go about it must be a huge political gamble and may yet come to haunt him. - Claire Rayner's dying words were “Tell David Cameron that if he screws up my beloved NHS I'll come back and bloody haunt him.”
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| Photograph: Wpa Pool/Getty Images |
[From an entry in December 2011. Further reading:Death by Care]
"All smiles but the reality is different. The latest depressingreport illustrates the plight of patients in NHS hospitals with dementia. Can anyone be surprised? There have been endless reports ofproblems in the NHS and care homes where nurses don't care as they should followed by promises to do something about it but the chances are, unless you are one of the privileged few, you have a high chance of dying in misery in a care home or hospital, disorientated, dirty, dehydrated and thoroughly depressed. Yes, there are pockets of excellence which politicians and the fortunate praise as shining example of the modern NHS but they are far outweighed by reports of poor care by people who seem to regard patients as fodder simply to keep them employed with the minimum of effort. Read about ithere,here,here,here,here,here,here,here.... . The reports are endless. In January 2010 Michael Parkinson in his role as the government's dignity ambassadorcondemned standards in care homes and hospitals as "downright unacceptable". In January 1999 atwo-yea r campaign toimprove "shocking levels of ill treatment" for elderly people in hospital began but we are still reading about it more thantwelve years later.
This from a former dedicated nurse: "What has happened to basic nursing care, to observation, to humanity? Excuses citing undermanned wards, overworked staff simply will not do. If we were short staffed we worked twice as hard to ensure patient comfort. Nursing has never been an "easy job", working long hours without overtime pay, sacrificing a social life are just a few examples encountered but the rewards were so good, seeing patients get well and return home, which was surely why nursing was chosen by many, when vocation was an easily understood word."
There is nothing to smile about. The system has failed. Government ministers should stop talking it up and get back to basics. The old system worked so get nurses out of college and back on the wards to learn patient care, hands on."
~
The Francis Report makes grim reading, and so it should. Patients in British hospitals have died of hunger, thirst and bedsores while the Government worries about miscreant prisoners dining unwittingly on halal food in which traces of pig DNA were discovered. Many of the patients in the Mid Staffs Hospital would have been treated better in one of HM Prisons than in the care of the NHS. In response the Prime Minister wants to target nurses' pay so that it is 'tied to how well they look after patients', a sure recipe for disaster. All nurses should look after all patients well. That is their job. If they do not see it that way they should not be employed in a caring profession.
After joining the Mid Staffordshire Hospitals NHS Trust as its Chairman in an effort to turn it aroundSir Stephen Moss, who has over forty years experience in nursing, said that there is something "fundamentally wrong" with the nursing profession and the way it is focused at the moment. He added, "the crisis facing nursing was not caused by a shortage of staff on wards. There needed to be changes in the way nurses were trained to make sure they "are prepared for the real world of the NHS rather than a classroom." All the more surprising then were the conclusions of theWillis Commission on Nursing Education which gathered evidence on "the best methods of delivering pre-registration nursing education in the UK and how efficient the current education system is; in particular, looking at the balance between workplace and classroom learning". However, it was the RCN, the nurses trade union which commissioned the independent review!
In their conclusions and recommendations the Commission remarked: " There is a tendencyto view the past as a golden age for health care (often around the 1950s), reinforced by popular nurse memoirs and television dramas. Yet there is much evidence to the contrary – overall health and life expectancy are better than ever..." -Not for the deceased who were left in the 'care' of the Mid Staffs Hospital, nor for my mother who suffered the same fate in a different NHS hospital.
From Becky Jarvis of 38 Degrees
A new fight over NHS privatisation has just begun. Jeremy Hunt is trying to use new powers, hidden within last year’s controversial NHS laws, to force local GPs to privatise more health services. This is one of the things we were afraid might happen – and now our worst fears are being confirmed. We need to do all we can to stop it.Jeremy Hunt’s new privatisation plot is contained within “NHS competition regulations”. Usually these kinds of rules get quickly rubber-stamped by Parliament. This time, we need to get MPs and Lords to stand up to Hunt and block his plans.
It’s a long shot, but we have a chance of stopping these changes because Hunt is breaking promises made to MPs when NHS laws were voted through last year. If we generate a huge, public outcry to put pressure on the politicians who clung on to those promises last time the government attacked our NHS, we can convince them to stop these new laws.
Sign the petition against Jeremy Hunt’s new NHS privatisation plan here – we’ve got just a couple of days before we’ll need to deliver it.
Read here.
Update [27/02/2013]
The Telegraph is reporting that “an outcry from medical groups, MPs and campaigners against privatisation in the NHS has forced a re-think”. In just 24 hours 130,000 people signed the petition against the changes. Over the next few hours, Hunt will be deciding whether or not he can hold out in the face of the public outcry. There is still time to sign the petition.
From 38 Degrees:
It’s being called backdoor NHS privatisation. And if we want to stop it, what happens in Parliament this week is crucial. Some Labour, Lib Dem and Green MPs have tabled a motion demanding the NHS privatisation plan be immediately withdrawn. [1] So far only 72 MPs have signed up. [2] We need to make that number grow, and quickly.
In the last few hours, the legal advice paid for by thousands of 38 Degrees members’ donations has come in. The verdict seems clear. If the government forces through these new NHS privatisation rules, it will mean ministers breaking promises they made last year when they said doctors wouldn't be forced to privatise everything. [3]
We’ve got the proof we need to show MPs that the government is breaking the promises made when the NHS law was forced through. Now we need to make sure every MP reads it, to convince them to sign the motion demanding these new privatisation rules are stopped.
If MPs hear from thousands of us we can make sure that they sign up to block backdoor privatisation. Can you click here to send an email asking them read our legal advice and oppose the plans?
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/nhs-broken-promises
The government says their ‘modernised’ NHS is supposed to be about giving more control to local doctors and communities. But under Jeremy Hunt’s new regulations, the government will force GPs to open up every part of local health services to private companies – whether or not it’s what they or local people want.
And it’s not just us saying this. On Sunday, the Observer newspaper reported an explosive letter from the head of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges to the health minister, outlining concerns that “healthcare will be disrupted and hospital services damaged as a result of time-consuming, disruptive and unnecessary tendering processes,” and that these new regulations are “at odds” with reassurances previously given to doctors. [6]
These are hardly the voices of radicals or political opportunists – so what’s it going to take for MPs to sit up, take notice and admit that something’s not right here? Let’s seize this moment and ask our MPs to listen to doctors, patients, legal experts and concerned constituents, before they make a big mistake:
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/nhs-broken-promises
We can stop this now, if we try. In the past week we've grown our rapid-response petition to over 230,000 signatures. We’ve chipped in to pay for expert legal advice. Now let’s make the talk in the halls of Parliament on Monday be about how many voters are getting in touch about these broken promises. Together, we can help those wavering MPs to find some backbone, and help even the diehard supporters of privatisation to realise the game is up.
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/nhs-broken-promises
Thanks for using your voice,
David, James, Hannah and the 38 Degrees team
NOTES
[1] The motion was originally tabled by Green MP Caroline Lucas, but then re-tabled co-sponsored by Lib Dem Andrew George and Labour leader Ed Miliband.
[2] You can see the motion, and the latest signatures, here: http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2012-13/1104
[3] For example, Andrew Lansley sent a letter to prospective CCGs on 16th February 2012, during the height of the battle to get the Bill through parliament, in which he assured them, “I know many of you may have read that you will be forced to fragment services, or to put services out to tender. This is absolutely not the case." See http://www.opendemocracy.net/ournhs/nicola-cutcher-lucy-reynolds/nhs-as-we-know-it-needs-prayer
[4] https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/nhs-section75-legal-advice
[5] Telegraph: Scrap NHS competition rules say 1000 in letter to Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9901194/Scrap-NHS-competition-rules-say-1000-in-letter-to-Telegraph.html
[6] Guardian: Doctors bemoan NHS privatisation by stealth http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/mar/02/doctors-bemoan-nhs-privatisation-by-stealth
Postscript [05/03/13]
NHS private sector climbdown. Read about ithere.
132 Thirst
117 Bedsores
51 Starved
Contributory factors
650 Bedsores
558 Severe dehydration
287 Malnourished
When patient care was the primary objective of nursing, 'turning' patients to avoid bedsores was commonplace. According to the latest statistics, last year 117 patients died of their bedsores with 650 being contributory factors to the cause of death.
Humorously but in a point well made, this clip shows how observation is the first rule of penaksiran yet in British Hospitals and Care Homes last year, 51 people starved to death and another 132 people died of thirst. In July, an inquest heard that a young man who died of dehydration at a leading hospital rang 999 for police because he was so thirsty.
Years ago just one death from a cause listed above would have been considered outrageous; now there is hardly a murmur. Read here how no-one acted when they should have in response to pleas of a retired maxillofacial surgeon. What hope is there for the rest of us?
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| Jeremy Hunt stays as health secretary with added responsibilities for social care. Source: Guardian |
Photograph: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images
It has been reported that Prime Minister Theresa May has "dropped a manifesto pledge" to hold a vote on the fox-hunting ban during this parliament.
It is a peculiarity of the British people that many appear to care more for animals than they do for people. Large legacies left to animal charities emphasise the point.
Some readers may recallBrumas, a baby Polar bear from the 1950s. An endearing ball of fluff to be hugged and cuddled. All changes when Polar bears mature into adulthood. Then a hug is likely to prove fatal. The 'Brumas complex' was applied to opponents of fox hunting who could identify only with the little balls of fluff, apparently oblivious to a carnivorous adulthood. Little has changed as 'pro' and 'anti' continue to square up over the issue.
There is no such contention over social care, only that HM government gets on with it. Jeremy Hunt has, according to reports, convinced the Prime Minister that he should remain in post as Secretary of State for Health with added responsibility for Social Care. The Sun says "Jeremy Hunt?S refusal to leave Health Secretary shows his dedication to NHS. Jeremy Hunt has shown he is hell-bent on improving the NHS despite the endless flak and financial woes,"
The Telegraph takes a different view: "Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, successfully faced down the Prime Minister when she asked him to become business secretary, forcing Mrs May to tear up her plans to promote or move other ministers who were already penciled in."
Whatever one's views, despite the endless flak and financial woes as the Sun puts, Hunt appears to want to do something about it rather then take the easy option and move.
That the two areas of responsibility, health and social care, should be joined up has been obvious to most for some time. In the current system each service is fouling the other creating blockages which cause misery and waste. Simplistically, the health system needs to get more patients out and fewer in.
Some of us have been through the hoop already, trying to arrive at a sustainable solution for parents, relatives and friends who are no longer able to care for themselves. Often they have been admitted to hospital out of medical necessity but when that has been dealt with they remain in hospital, bed blocking because of administrative procedures such as a social worker has not reviewed the case.
Even when appropriate care arrangements have been made because there is no alternative, the official stamp of approval is needed from someone who seems to work according to their own timescale even if it takes weeks.
That is not to say that the solution is always easy. Some patients will be able to return home only if appropriate domiciliary care is available. Others will prefer to move into a care home while others will need the more specialised care provided in nursing homes. Many people who could be cared for at home do not have sufficient private means to pay for their care. Inadequate Local Authority funding forces them to remain in hospital for no valid medical reason while they await suitable accommodation in care homes causing further blockages.
Carers do amazing work for little financial reward. Without their dedicated hard work the system would be in an even worse mess but local Authorities continue to undervalue carers. Last year it was reported that thousands of disabled and older people were receiving 15 minute homecare visits in England because almost a quarter of councils (22 per cent) – 34 - were ignoring Care Act guidance to stop the practice. That is unfair to both. If animals were treated the same there would be an outcry.
At the opposite end of the system too many people are using hospital Accident and Emergency units as primary care facilities. Millions of patients have been putting unnecessary strain on the NHS by seeking medical help for minor complaints such as colds, insect bites and dandruff, according to a report.
The crisis in general practice is said to be unprecedented: "Anyone who has visited their GP recently will be aware of the pressures: the struggle to get an appointment, the difficulty of seeing the same GP more than once, the rush to get you out of the door for the next patient."
The system is not working as it should. While there are individual pockets of excellence there are constant crises. Jeremy Hunt must not be tempted to kick the duduk perkara into the long grass with another inquiry. It is identified in his new title, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care - a joined up system with proper funding.
His smooth talk will not get Hunt out of this one. Delivery will prove Mrs May right. Failure will make them both the quarry.
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| An unusually expensive extraction! |
Dental extraction has become the cheaper option for many UK citizens unable to obtain NHS treatment despite paying their NHS contributions.
Private treatment including root fillings and crowns quickly adds up to bills for many hundreds of pounds. It is hardly surprising that extraction, often not the preferred option, is necessitated by cost.
A report last year claimed that patients were having to pull out their own teeth because NHS dental practices are refusing to register new patients. The figures have prompted concerns of an “emerging crisis” in dental care in England, with the British Dental Association (BDA) accusing the Government of commissioning only enough dentistry to treat about half the adult population.
News broke in 2008 that the Government's contract with NHS dentists, introduced in 2006, had been such a failure that nearly a million fewer patients were visiting the dentist, and the number of crowns, bridges and dentures being fitted had fallen by more than half, while the number of extractions had risen. An estimated 7.4 million people cannot find an NHS dentist to do elementary dental work such as fillings.
Recent findings show that "Tooth decay is the number one reason for child hospital admissions, but communities across England have been "left hamstrung without resources or leadership". There have been calls for a crackdown on unhealthy foods and soft drinks to combat "spiralling cases of tooth decay" with an "urgent need" to introduce measures to curb our sugar addiction which is causing children's teeth to rot.
The food and drinks industry is of course motivated by profit. That sounds familiar. In many areas it is not difficult to find a dentist but it is very difficult if you want NHS treatment.
A debate on children's dental examinations and treatment is due to take place in the House of Lords on January 18. It shouldn't be too difficult for their Lordships to come to a conclusion.
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| The Church of England's House of Bishops voted Tuesday to block the creation of a new liturgy |
to celebrate gender transition but urged bishops to use the existing baptism rite as a way
to mark the passage. (Niklas Halle'n/AFP/Getty Images)/theblaze
...who’s the fairest of them all? - Neither Church nor State that's for sure. Both are engaging in absurd distortions of reality.
General Synod paper GS Misc 1178 provides an "update" on ‘Welcoming Transgender People’, as if they are not welcome already, using the now familiar propaganda techniques of exploiting the 'victim' status - see earlierentry - just as the LGBT lobby has done to secure a dedicated chaplaincy and "a safe, sacred space for our LGBTI+ friends to share their stories, explore their faith and enjoy time together with no fear of judgement" - [click here and scroll down to "Open Table come as you are"].
In July 2017 the General Synod carried, "with strong support in all three Houses, a motion brought forward by the Blackburn Diocesan Synod, that this Synod, recognising the need for transgender people to be welcomed and affirmed in their parish church, call on the House of Bishops to consider whether some nationally commended liturgical materials might be prepared to mark a person’s gender transition."
'Theblaze' summerises how the Church of England’s House of Bishops voted on Tuesday to block the creation of a new liturgy to celebrate gender transition. Bishops were urged instead to use the existing baptism rite as a way to mark the passage. Dodging the concept of second baptisms the Church of England has instead given the green light to using existing liturgies similar to the way gay unions are being blessed with all the outward appearances of church marriages.
The State, as in NHS England, is also pandering to fashion as if money were no object in offering biological males a smear test for cervical cancer if they identify as females, even though they do not have female organs, while women who could be at risk but identify as men are not being routinely offered potentially life saving NHS screening for breast and cervical cancer amid fears it might offend them.
If people want to ignore their biological sex they are free to do so but they should not expect others to engage in their fantasies. Cervical Cancer Prevention Week from 22-28 January.
A view from the US
Not content with changing the rules which protect the sanctity of marriage the gay lobby now expects the State to pay for unprotected sex via the NHS to help prevent them contracting HIV: "Aids campaigners are celebrating a watershed victory after the high court ruled that NHS England can pay for 'game-changer' drugs that prevent people being infected with HIV by their partnersdanquot;.
While it may be cheaper in the long run to prevent rather than treat Aids, there has to be added to the cost of the pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drug the cost of treating any side effects plus treating the added risk of STDs which is rising among gay and bisexual men. But there is more to this than the money. There is a moral dimension.
With limited resources to provide essential treatment there are, for example, needy children with cystic fibrosis, people with cancer who have to apply for funding to just give them some hope through no fault of their own. Twenty-five vital cancer drugs have been deemed 'too expensive' for the NHS.
With so many pressing health needs the tax payer should not be asked to fund a life-style choice at the expense of the needy.
Postscript [08.08.2016]
Transgender ‘men’ given IVF treatment by the NHS. Women who have undertaken sex reassignment surgery to become 'men' are being given IVF treatment on the NHS.
Conservative MP Peter Bone questioned why the NHS is choosing to fund this, especially considering its limited resources for more necessary medical services:
"The NHS is does not have endless pots of cash and, with accident and emergency departments and hospitals bursting at the seams, we should stop pretending that it does," he said.
"When you go into realms like this, I am not sure why the taxpayer should be funding it. It?S something that people could surely fund privately if they want to. We?Ve had changes in the Cancer Drugs Fund which will stop some cancer drugs being available to people on cost grounds.
"I just sometimes ask if the NHS is getting its priorities right."
The Bishop of London has written to her clergy telling them they can ignore guidelines banning them from conducting services in their own churches thus contradicting advice from the Archbishop of Canterbury.
By her actions the former Chief Nurse gives support to those people who think they know better than the government and the Church, ignoring Covid-19 guidelines designed to protect our NHS and save lives.
Shame on her.
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| Source: Twitter |
Of course black lives matter, all lives matter. Not that one would think so after Thousands join Black Lives Matter protests around the UK, ignoring restrictions on gatherings and warnings about social distancing to avoid spreading the Covid-19 virus.
Demonstrations have spread like a rash, invaded by various groups regardless of the facts as articulated by this courageous lady.
On the 80th Anniversary of the evacuation of Dunkirk, Winston Churchill's statue in Parliament Square was defaced as thousands took part in a Black Lives Matter rally. Police and police horses were attacked.The Cenotaph was vandalised.
This has nothing to do with the death of George Floyd, just one of many appalling incidents throughout the world, most of which go unreported.
Protect the NHS has been a Government cry from the start of the pandemic. Their strategy avoided the NHS being overwhelmed but tragically many lives have been lost among NHS staff and carers. There has been growing concern about the disproportionate deaths among BAME people.
If the demonstrations results in another spike in Covid-19 cases, the NHS will have to pick up the pieces with many more Black, Asian, and minority ethnic people in the front line.
For the demonstrators it seems that black lives do not matter.
Postscript
Tweet from Toby Young: "I was in Minneapolis last year. Loved it. Such a beautiful city. It now looks like Aleppo." Footage here.
From Jack Montgomery: "Lincoln's statue vandalised even worse than Churchill's at the #BlackLivesMatter protest in London. Lincoln, of course, is the President who freed the slaves ? And got an assassin's bullet in the back of the head for doing it. That still wasn't enough?" Image here.
Utter madness.
Postscript [08.06.2020]
London police 'on the run' from 'peaceful' protestors here.
The ultimate disgrace, police officers having to move in with riot gear to defend the Cenotaph as rioters attempt to set fire to our flag. The day after we commemorated D-Day, when our troops, those the Cenotaph honours, liberated Europe from *actual* fascists. Scumbags. Here.
No doubt these demonstrators will be first in the queue for treatment by the NHS if they become infected with Covid-19, demanding their rights as victims.
Postscript [15.06.2020]
Channel 4 News: "It turns out that the Leader of the Independent Police Advisory Group, who we must assume has a degree, doesn't know that Winston Churchill is dead. Why interview someone without knowledge? What do universities teach?"
