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| Health and social care in Britain is under tremendous strain and more Tory cuts won't help. |
There is a clear distinction to be made between progressives and Conservatives on how to address them. Under the Conservatives their are going to be more cuts, while the progressive parties have pledged to raise more money.
And this election even offers a symbolic way to reject the Tory approach to healthcare. Dr Louise Irvine - who previously took the government to court and won over the cutting of casualty and maternity services Lewisham Hospital closure - is standing against Health Minister Jeremy Hunt in the South West Surrey constituency.
Tactical Voting
On behalf of the National Health Action Party, Dr Irvine is standing against Jeremy Hunt and the field has been cleared. Local members of the Liberal Democrats and Labour have agreed not to campaign and the Green Party withdrew its own candidate.
The various progressive alliance movements have all offered their endorsement, including Compass - the most well known pressure group for a new more pluralism politics.
Let's be realistic: it would be a huge upset for Dr Irvine to defeat Jeremy Hunt. Last time he took 34,000 votes (with UKIP on 5,600), while Irvine took just under 5,000. However, support for the Conservatives is not innate.
Through the 1990s and into the 2000s, the Conservative-progressive split (led by the Lib Dems) averaged out at 26,000 to 26,000. Only since 2010 has Hunt opened up a significant majority. And now he's among the most well known ministers - for all the wrong reasons.
Voters in Surrey have a chance to reject Hunt's management of the NHS and the air of conflict he has created with doctors. Members and campaigners for the progressive parties have already thrown in their backing for Irvine. Now it's down to voters.
Health in Crisis
And there are a lot of reasons voters can be dissatisfied with Hunt. From strikes, to closures, to year and after year cuts to funding, Britain's healthcare system faces some dire years ahead if the Tories remain in power.
Hunt caused plenty of controversy by deciding to go toe and to toe with junior doctors over new contracts and casting them as unreasonable people taking unnecessary action. Fortunately, the public was having none of it: polls showed the public consistently behind the doctors.
The strike action over contracts goes hand in hand with discontent at the ongoing public sector pay capped, limited to a 1% rise. The policy has led to distress particularly among NHS staff, with pay not rising along with prices and the general cost of living.
Hunt's management of the NHS has also antagonised patients. One in six A&E departments across the country face closure under the Tory drive to find £22bn in cuts from the health budget in the next few years. These emergency units have been under severe strain, with waiting times targets consistently missed.
The problems with healthcare in Britain stretch beyond the Health Secretary to his party's wider approach.
One place from where extra pressure is being exerted on the NHS is social care. With no where to go, thanks to a shortage of places, hospital beds are remaining full. Elder patients are finding themselves stuck in hospitals, unable to be discharged because the social care system is at capacity.
That is in part thanks to Conservative cuts to local government funding, that has seen billions cut from social care budgets - with only token efforts to restore minimal amounts, mostly to be raised by local councils themselves, a move that is clearly punitive to poorer communities.
This failure to display compassion has overtaken welfare too. From cuts to disability benefits to attempts, appallingly, to dismiss the needs of those with mental illnesses. In an effort to cut spending on welfare, Tory policy chief George Freeman said the party wants welfare to go only to the "really disabled".
All of fronts, there appears to more concern about producing an immaculate looking balance sheet, than about the comprehensive quality service that balance sheet is supposed to be providing.
Progressive Pitch
The progressive parties are calling for a change in direction and both Labour and the Liberal Democrats have pledged more funding - and not just for the NHS itself. Both parties are calling for more to be restored to the social care system and for health and social care to be seen and treated as a joined-up service.
Labour have pledged to raise around £6 billion a year extra for the NHS, from higher taxes on the wealthy. They accompany that with investment from their proposed National Transformation Fund to upgrade hospitals and their equipment.
The Liberal Democrats go a step further. They plan to add a penny in the pound to tax, affecting all earners - but hitting the richest hardest - specifically to support the NHS and social care.
Both of these plans are a pragmatic step towards addressing the problems in the healthcare system. So would lowering stress for public sector workers by lifting the pay cap, to which both parties have committed.
Labour and the Lib Dems are also pledging to do away with some of the Conservatives more heinous welfare cuts, particularly those affecting people with disabilities.
Stand up for Healthcare
The idea of a progressive alliance is a rejection of the gerrymandering system that forces people to divide according to tribal loyalties. To bring people together who support common values and work together to ensure better representation.
In this election, the progressive alliance movement has brought parts of the Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens together around the common values - for which they have stood in most past elections.
But standing aside for National Health Action and their candidate Dr Louise Irvine shows something more: a willingness to put aside narrow interest to fight for something larger. To put a candidate into office who has fought long and hard for the NHS.
Voters have to do two things. To vote for the candidates that stand for their values - not just for a specific party - and they need to be vocal about what is moving them. Healthcare always tops the list of people's concerns in Britain.
Jeremy Hunt has mismanaged the National Health Service. His party in government has sewn division and lacked compassion. Even if you usually vote Conservative, especially if you normally vote Conservative, rejecting Hunt and electing Dr Louise Irvine would be a strong statement.
Choosing Dr Louise Irvine would be a symbolic defence of the NHS and of the principles of compassionate universal care. But it would also put into office a tireless and independent minded local campaigner - who beat the government in the courts to stop closures and isn't afraid to call out any of the parties on their record.
References
'National Health Action Party Manifesto 2017'; from the National Health Action Party; as of 1 June 2017.
Louise Irvine's 'I took Jeremy Hunt to court and won. Now I want to unseat him: As a GP, I am standing against the health minister in the forthcoming election to protect our NHS against swingeing Tory cuts and secure its future'; in The Guardian; 12 May 2017.
May Bulman's 'Progressive Alliance: British doctor to stand against Jeremy Hunt as other parties step aside - Dr Louise Irvine says she is 'more than ready' to challenge Health Secretary as leader of National Health Action Party after Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green Party members agree to back her'; in The Independent; 9 May 2017.
Samuel Osborne & Adam Withnall's 'Junior doctors strike: Majority of public support doctors ahead of first full walkout, poll shows - Junior doctors begin an all-out strike from 8am on Tuesday, and will resume the strike on Wednesday'; in The Independent; 26 April 2017.
Jon Stone's 'Jeremy Hunt is the most disliked frontline British politician of any party, new poll shows: The Health Secretary is even less popular than his predecessor Andrew Lansley'; in The Independent; 15 February 2016.
Fiona Parker's 'Jeremy Hunt faces ‘serious challenge’ for seat by GP'; in The Metro; 8 May 2017.
Denis Campbell's 'NHS staff 'quitting to work in supermarkets because of poor pay': Policy of limiting rises to 1% is damaging health service and must not be pursued into next parliament, say NHS leaders'; in The Guardian; 8 May 2017.
Nicola Slawson's 'One in six A&E departments at risk of closure or downgrade: As many as 33 casualty departments across the UK could be lost by 2021 in an attempt to save £22bn from the NHS’s budget'; in The Guardian; 6 February 2017.
Patrick Butler's 'Councils 'at breaking point' due to budget cuts and rising social care bills: Millions of residents face council tax rises, as thinktank finds just 6% of local authorities expect to not have to increase rates'; in The Guardian; 10 February 2017.
Jon Stone's 'Theresa May refuses to rule out further disability benefits cuts: ‘I know there are some issues that people continue to raise about assessments that are made on those payments’'; in The Independent; 10 May 2017.
Jessica Elgot & Hilary Osborne's 'Welfare funds must serve 'really disabled' people, says MP: Tory policy head George Freeman argues for ‘tweaks’ to stop benefits ruling entailing £3.6bn bill and PIP eligibility for ‘anxiety’'; in The Guardian; 26 February 2017.
Shehab Khan's 'Labour to pledge an additional £37 billion of funding for the NHS: Jeremy Corbyn is hoping to improve A&E performances and take one million patients off NHS waiting lists'; in The Independent; 14 May 2017.
Anthony Barej's 'Leaked Labour manifesto promises end to public sector pay cap and renationalisation'; on Public Finance; 11 May 2017.
James Gallagher's 'Lib Dems pledge 1p income tax rise to fund NHS'; on the BBC; 6 May 2017.
'General election 2017: Lib Dems would end public sector pay squeeze'; on the BBC; 15 May 2017.
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