Over fifty thousand marched and joined the rally at Manchester on the 29th September 2013 in support of the NHS. Many of the Pensioners Convention members were in attendance, in what the Police described as the largest march seen in Manchester.
The demonstration aimed to highlight the impact of government policies on jobs and spending across the health service, as well as the “rapid selloff” of the most lucrative parts of the NHS to private healthcare companies.
They were in Manchester to protest against the privatisation of the NHS by the Tories and their Lib Dem partners. The growing mood of resistance was fully in evidence. The march wound through the streets for three hours. At its head was public-service Union Unison, a contingent which was itself thousands strong. A huge display of strength was shown by people of all ages. Following the march union leaders were due to address a rally alongside appearances by musicians.
Still lot’s more to say on spying including the news that British intelligence agencies have successfully cracked much of the online encryption relied upon by hundreds of millions of people to protect the privacy of their personal data, online transactions and emails, according to top-secret documents revealed by former contractor Edward Snowden. And as I type, the UK is trying to block minor reforms of protection by the European Union. Again very frightening, but some organisations are working on solving the problem in our interests. More soon.
Ivor Timson 