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From The Socialist newspaper, 30 January 2013
East Midlands: Campaign forces retreat on ambulance station closure
"You can't win", I was told by one onlooker as we marched through Hinckley protesting against the possible closure of our ambulance station.
However, after a three month public consultation on residents' views, petitions signed by hundreds of local people and a march of more than 100 people, the East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) is reconsidering its plans.
New options
The Chief Executive of EMAS has stated that Hinckley's ambulance station is likely to be kept open, with the possibility of a new station being built to house an even greater fleet of ambulances than at present.
In addition, the original proposal to close down 66 ambulance stations across the region and replace them with 13 large central hubs and 131 tactical deployment points has now been supplemented by three other options, including keeping things as they are.
A discussion on this issue has now been postponed from January to March while EMAS carry out "further analysis".
This retreat is important but we need to keep up the pressure on union leaders to defend our ambulance service nationwide and to fight cuts to any of our public services.
Helen Gadsby
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The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.
The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.
The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.
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In The Socialist 30 January 2013:
Socialist Party NHS news & campaigning
Privatisation: Bleeding the NHS dry
Heatherwood hospital campaign shows determination
East Midlands: Campaign forces retreat on ambulance station closure
Life as an NHS worker: bullying and stress
Socialist Party news and analysis
Cameron takes a gamble by threatening EU referendum
Aaron Swartz: a fight to free information
Fighting the cuts
Southampton councillors have a choice ... Don't vote for cuts!
Hull councillors ready to vote No
Brighton's Greens vote for cuts in workers' allowances
Labour meltdown in Stoke-on-Trent continues; and Unison withholds funding
Stop Sheffield children's centre closures
Workplace news and events
Twelfth day of strike action by Tyne and Wear metro cleaners
London teachers call for strike action against Performance Related Pay
Socialist Party review
Fired up by Fire in the Blood - a story of big business cruelty and neglect
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
Jumping through hoops for a job
Shrewsbury 24: What is the government hiding?
Wales conference - confidence in socialist ideas
Server appeal: Members provide a huge boost to our resources
Socialist Party National Congress 2013
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