Lewisham – Liberals save Labour’s blushes on NHS

AT THE Lewisham council meeting on 20 September, Labour’s mayor Steve
Bullock was desperate for good news on the NHS. He put forward a
resolution praising Lewisham Hospital for its award of an "excellent"
grade for services for children in a Healthcare Commission review.

All councillors wanted to congratulate Lewisham’s NHS staff for their
skill and hard work. But the two Socialist Party councillors and Greens
both put forward addenda, though the Greens withdrew their amendment in
favour of ours.

Our addendum was based on a Lewisham Pensioners Federation letter
welcoming increased public funding for the NHS but "concerned about the
billions going into restructuring on market lines, the millions paid to
management consultants and financial advisors, and the drain on hospital
budgets from the long-term financial burden of PFI loans." The
resolution said the government should immediately halt "these costly and
wasteful measures."

Socialist Party councillor Chris Flood, an NHS employee, said that
the best way to support staff was to fight for their services, not just
to put forward a one-sided resolution that ignored the cuts and
privatisations that lead to huge deficits, to wards and even whole
hospitals being axed or reduced.

The Liberal Democrats, though, weren’t prepared to oppose New Labour.
Socialist Party councillor Ian Page derided the LibDems’ attitude. When
they went to Pensioners Federation meetings, they boasted how anti-Blair
and pro-pensioner they were, but they were opposing their resolution on
attacks on the NHS!

So, only the Socialist Party and Green Party councillors voted for
the addendum. The capitalist LibDems were acting like New Labour in
waiting! Chris Flood’s suggestion to New Labour of a debate on the NHS
was turned down.

Lewisham is a ‘hung council’ with New Labour the biggest party and
with a directly elected Labour mayor. Apart from the two Socialist Party
councillors there are 17 LibDems, six Greens and three Tories to 24 New
Labour.

Bullock tried to get some interim ‘budget savings’ proposals through
in mid financial year to keep the budget ‘under control’. The opposition
wanted to just ‘note’ the proposals and have a full discussion on
budgets at a future meeting, as happens at most councils.

Socialist Party councillors pointed out that many proposed cuts hit
jobs, conditions and services. There were for example proposals to save
money by using agency staff rather than trained council-employed
gardeners; deleting some unfilled staff posts and making serious cuts in
Children and Young People’s provisions, some involving deportation of
children.

At the vote, the combined opposition members there should have
ensured that 25 councillors voted for merely ‘noting’ the proposals to
24 New Labour. But 25 councillors voted for Bullock’s plans – a Green
Party councillor bailed out Labour.