TUC general secretary PAUL NOWAK speaks to the Morning Star’s Berny Torre about the increasing frustration the trade union movement feels at a government that promised change, but has been too slow to bring it about
NHS England’s abolition sets the stage for deep cuts to come
Behind Starmer’s headline-grabbing abolition of NHS England lies a ruthless drive to centralise control so that cuts of £6.6 billion can be made — even if it means reducing cancer services and clinical staff, writes JOHN LISTER
DIANE ABBOTT exposes the misconceptions, rumours and downright lies perpetrated around immigration issues
With 12,000 fewer teachers since 2010 and dwindling resources, Scotland’s schools desperately need investment to support diverse learners rather than empty promises from politicians, writes ANDREA BRADLEY
Reversing outsourcing is the pre-election promise the government must honour, says Unison general secretary CHRISTINA McANEA
EMAN ABU ZAYED reminisces about the perilous time her family and neighbours endured in northern Gaza and how they were forced, in fear of their lives, to flee south
The EIS president who defended Marxist politics in the 1980s fought Thatcherite educational policies while organising Teachers for Peace rallies and ensuring Morning Star circulation in Scotland’s pit villages and factories, writes JOHN FOSTER
A MASSIVE new reorganisation aimed at tightening financial controls on the NHS hit news headlines on March 13 with Sir Keir Starmer’s surprise announcement that NHS England (NHSE) is to be abolished.
Few campaigners will shed many tears at the dismantling of NHSE. Its role from the beginning was as the “national commissioning board” overseeing the competitive market for healthcare established by Andrew Lansley’s disastrous mega-“reform” that took effect from 2013.
But nor is there any obvious enthusiasm to go back to the previous model of New Labour’s market-style reforms, primary care trusts, strategic health authorities, privatisation and “world-class commissioning” — although that does seem to be the model that Streeting and Starmer are hoping to recreate.
More from this author
Relatively recently the health service was at its peak — to reverse the incredible damage done by the Tories since 2010 we need billions going straight into state provision, writes JOHN LISTER
Labour’s 24-page manifesto for the health service carefully avoids explaining how any of it will be paid for and provided. This is more than worrying, writes JOHN LISTER
Higher funds are critical to prevent the growth of privatisation by allowing the NHS to expand capacity and reduce the vast 6-million-plus waiting list, writes JOHN LISTER
The hated Health and Social Care Act has effectively been suspended, and there’s huge recognition that support staff should be brought back in-house. So can the ‘competitive health market’ now be ditched once and for all? asks JOHN LISTER
