Save Huddersfield NHS:

Angry marchers keep up the fight

ABOUT 250 angry protesters hit Huddersfield’s streets on 7 October,
dismayed by the sham consultation that has taken place over local NHS
cuts. We were also enraged by the announcement just the day before that
Patricia Hewitt had backed her so-called ‘independent’ review, calling
for consultant-led maternity services to be transferred to Halifax.

Iain Dalton

The local paper declared it ‘The End’, but those on the demonstration
didn’t think so, nor did many other people in Huddersfield cheering on
the demonstration as it passed. Indeed, many were disappointed in the
local Labour MP, Barry Sheerman, who claimed to be ‘shocked and
saddened’ by the decision, which he had initially backed until he
realised it would cost the local Labour Party votes.

The same goes for other local MPs who at best claimed the decision
had been ‘fair’ and at worst celebrated it. The people of Huddersfield
have seen the Save Huddersfield NHS campaign as one that will keep
fighting for all the services locally, not just jump on and off the
bandwagon when it suits their careers best.

Many on the demonstration now see that the fight to save the NHS is a
national one. Many have seen the fights breaking out across the country
to stop cuts and closures and the recent struggle of NHS Logistics
workers against privatisation, and are keen to attend and build for the
national protest on 1 November.

Socialist Students had a prominent contingent on the demonstration
and had (alongside members of the campaign and Socialist Party members)
been building for it in the week before, selling 39 copies of the
socialist during that week and 48 on the demonstration day itself.