AT Thursday nigh’t Council meeting, the Bootle-dominated Labour Party refused to debate the perilous position of Southport Hospital.
They further refused to engage in any discussions about cross-party co-operation to save the NHS and create a seamless Health and Care provision in England.
Southport Councillor Tony Dawson had put down a motion for debate which covered both local and national NHS concerns. He was particularly seeking the Council’s support for merging Health and Social Care systems nationwide and backing an all party group of MPs who were trying to work across-party politics to create a viable future for an NHS which we can all be proud of.
Unfortunately, the Labour Group on the council ambushed the motion and made it clear it would not be allowed proper debate because it had not come from themselves. Councillor Dawson says:
“The lack of concern of the Labour Party for the services provided at Southport’s hospital is quite shocking but hardly a surprise. The last time that I asked the Cabinet Member for Health & Wellbeing a public question about the processes being used to carve up Southport’s health services, he admitted that he was literally clueless.”
“I provided the Labour Party with a copy of my motion ten days before the Council meeting. I invited them to amend it to include concerns about Bootle’s health services to make it represent the entire Borough since I know as little about the detail of their hospital service as they seem to care about Southport’s. There was a complete silence. Even before the meeting, Labour said nothing to me. Only when I went and asked the Leader of the Council halfway through the meeting what Labour were doing did he say that Labour wanted me to withdraw my motion.”
“He could not give a coherent reason why,. He just said that Labour wanted to have a ‘better motion’. Only when I asked him why they had not submitted an ‘improving’ amendment did he give the game away. Councillor Maher said that had Labour submitted an amendment to my motion, it would have been declared out of order because it would have negated the original motion. So, Labour would have been AGAINST concerns about Southport Hospital and AGAINST cross-party co-operation. They would have been AGAINST integrating health and social care and AGAINST criticising the privatised carve-up of the NHS taking place under Jeremy Hunt.”
“The sad truth is that anything which does not originate from the Bootle Politburo cannot be allowed to go forward in Swfton Council. They make the Communist Party of the Soviet Union seem like an open and honest crew in comparison.”
Councillor Dawson moved his motion, which was seconded, but he then withdrew it under protest.
“The Labour Party had made it plain that they would not deal seriously with the issue,” he said, “and there was other business on the agenda. No doubt, we will be permitted to debate our NHS at some future time when Labour feels like it, probably after future irreparable damage has been done and we will see crocodile tears.”
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