The Socialist 31 August 2016

#KeepCorbyn: For a party that fights for workers

#KeepCorbyn: For a party that fights for workers

Right's purges and exclusions show we must fight for a party for the 99%

Packed meeting discusses Trotskyism, Corbyn and socialist change

Trade unionists for Corbyn rally in Cardiff

Education: fightback needed

Pressure, lies and head games: being a school student in Tory Britain

Join the student fightback to end education cuts and austerity

No NHS cuts or closures

Grantham protest against night-time closure of A&E

Invest in grassroots sports needs

Women still take home 36% less than men

Over a million families in 'extreme problem debt'

France: Burkini ban fuels division

Chile: general strike threat as pensions protests grow

UberEats: Angry delivery drivers protest over pay

Solid bus strike for better terms and pay

Southern strike

Why you should join the Socialist Party today

Socialist Party 'collectathon' to raise crucial cash

Ken Loach and a Socialist seller join Sisters Uncut protest

Sunshine and socialism at Socialist Party summer camp

Can Britain have a pay rise?

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£20bn hospitals funding gap

No NHS cuts or closures

2,000 demonstrate against Huddersfield's A&E closure, photo Iain Dalton (Click to enlarge)

Mike Forster, Chair, Hands Off HRI (personal capacity) and Aaron Bailey, Huddersfield Socialist Party

The NHS is about to undergo further major cuts and closures, through the government's misnamed 'Sustainability and Transformation Plan'. NHS England alone could face a £20 billion funding gap.

Simon Stevens, NHS England's chief executive, pledged in April 2014 to maintain local hospitals. He feared a vengeful public coming out to fight for their NHS.

Yet that is exactly what will happen now as a result of the 44 regional Sustainability and Transformation Plans. Changes in London, Leicestershire and the West Midlands - including entire hospitals being downgraded or closed - could result in nationwide protests.

Disbelief

NHS bosses say the plans are necessary for the sake of better care, modernisation and financial balance. But an angry, disbelieving public will fight tooth and nail against the loss of vital local services.

Here in Yorkshire, workers and the community continue to resist the proposed Huddersfield Royal Infirmary (HRI) A&E closure through the 'Hands Off HRI' campaign.

On 4 September we will march, followed by an afternoon of bands, stalls, entertainment and speakers. Almost £20,000 has been raised by local people to launch a legal challenge against the closure, backed by several large demonstrations. Two coaches have so far been booked for a visit to the Department of Health and Downing Street on 10 October.

This fight of ours has been fought and won in other parts of the country, such as Lewisham in south London. More areas are starting to mobilise to defend their own services. We are starting to link up with campaigns from all over the country, some of which are joining us in London in October.

The time is now right to unite all these struggles into a huge national campaign to defend the NHS.

The government can be defeated on this issue, but it's urgent that the trade unions take up the struggle now! The unions must build for coordinated, escalating strikes, and name the day for a national demonstration to save the NHS.