Weeks to save the NHS

I was looking forward to the all-London anti-cuts meeting on Saturday - and I was not disappointed. It's not often on the left one gets to say that!

There were at least a dozen borough anti-cuts groups represented, and some more sent apologies but are in the loop. We meet again on 11 May in some format. On Saturday there was a welcome absence of speechifying by labour movement worthies telling us how bad the cuts are/are going to be.

Instead we had grassroots campaigners, already in the thick of it, giving an overview of what is happening in their own borough, plus four practical workshops, and sharing ideas for next steps severally and jointly for all of us.

To my mind, this is the big one - a weekday evening demonstration in London in the week beginning 23 May against the Health and Social Care Bill. The government, not wanting to fight on too many fronts at once, and being alarmed by the vocal opposition from GPs, has announced a "pause to listen" over this legislation. The main ideas in the bill are likely to remain, however.

I've added a health and social care page on the Barnet Alliance for Public Services website where I'll post resources on this legislation and details of the campaign around it. If you want to know more, take a look.