Bringing it home better than any politician - Harry's story

Thanks for sharing this. Very moving

That made me cry

It struck cords with me Holly and I found it very moving. My father was born a little earlier than Harry - 1918 (sadly not longer with us) and I can remember him telling me about voting in the 1945 election - he too was still in the Air Force after going through the war. They felt they could move mountains - and they did with the NHS.

I bought his book and have passed it round the family. Unfortunately, it's talking to the converted, and it's other people who need to read it.

After seeing him on the news Gracesgran, I don't feel so daft after seeing others moved to tears.

He spoke of all the things that worry me - I share his view that things are moving backwards and it's why I say I'm puzzled that very few people seem to be trying to stop it. It's why I hate seeing either Labour or Conservative getting in again because it means nothing is going to change - a few sweetners thrown out to keep people quiet but nothing that really matters.

It was interesting seeing some journalists talking about how the Labour Party Conference used to be*Hollydaze*, with members making decisions rather than the sanitized presentations by MPs. I think people of all leanings feel that so many of the politicians are administrators rather than people of conscience. This may not be true but since they all had to be "on message" none of them really says anything of consequence.

I've just read a good response from someone who said to two 'warring' sides of the political spectrum 'they might be different trains but they both aim to arrive at the same platform' - sad but true nowadays.

After being moved by Harry, I carried on listening to the debate and was very heartened by Andy Burnham's rousing speech about what he would do for the NHS as Health secretary. His plan for a cradle to grave health AND social care service, properly integrated, sounded a good way forward to me, and his promise of help for carers too. I'm sorry to see the 'they're all the same' mantra trotted out on this theme.Whatever Labour's faults it always looks after its creation, the NHS, vastly better than Tory governments do. Lansley's reforms are rapidly dismantling it, and for the poorest we'll be back to the bad old days. Harry's speech was a waste of breath if we just sigh and say 'there's nothing to be done, they're all the same'

I am surprised by your praise for Burnham Dangran the way he handled the Mid Staffs Hospital scandal was wrong, IMHO, on so many levels.

I'm sorry to see the 'they're all the same' mantra trotted out on this theme.

It is warranted - the NHS didn't start to decline once the Tories got in, it has been declining for years.

I don't see any of the parties through rose coloured glasses Dangran and can see the faults although I may have more great sympathy for some of the principles they have. My criticism was of the presentation of all the parties. I would also agree with Hollydaze that any problems that we have, in this case the decline of the NHS, are rarely down to one party.

It is quite a presumption to infer that, because I criticised the presentation and lack of grass roots influence of all the parties that I was just sighing and saying there was nothing to be done. I have, in the past, belonged to a political party and, as a member, worked hard for it. I would do the same again if I felt the present construction of our parties and government stood for the democracy I believe in.

It does not matter who did what to the NHS previously. What matters is who is going to save it now, for Harry and all who agree with him.

As I stand here today, my heart is with all of those people from my generation who didn’t make it past childhood, didn’t get an education, grow as individuals, marry, raise a family and enjoy the fruits of retirement because they died needlessly and too early in another era of austerity, But my heart is also with the people of the present, who, because of welfare cuts and austerity measures, are struggling once more to make ends meet, and whose futures I fear for. -

This is one of the more important paragraphs in his speech.

True jen but the NHS saviour is no longer a clear straightforward choice between Labour or Conservatives. Thirteen years in government and Labour really messed the NHS up and often tried to hide when things were going dreadfully wrong. PFI's may have been introduced by the Conservatives but Labour embraced them for both the NHS and Education. Harry is a marvellous orator but the way the Labour Party have used him for their own means is IMHO quite shameful. But I don't know who, what will save the NHS.

Pressed send but left out Labour's disastrous years of running the NHS are too recent for me personally to automatically think they are now ready and able to be trusted.

Remember Stafford Hospital? All these hundreds of preventable deaths that happened under Labour's watch.

Politicians do not run hospitals, nor should they. Was what happened at Stafford Hospital directly the fault of politicians or of the health authority and some of the people working at the hospital? Hospital and health authority workers are not usually politicians, are they?

I'm asking for information because I'm a little puzzled as to why politicians are being blamed in this instance.

Other NHS hospitals were run well at the same time.

If one wants to get a clear picture of what exactly was going on under the stewardship of Labour health secretaries, Volume Two of the Francis Report, chapter 19 is essential reading. It details a catalogue of errors made, letters warning of the awful situation at Mid-Staffordshire that were never read by senior officials, or simply passed across a desk.

The Labour Party tried to cover up the truth of what was happening at Mid Staffs for many years bags and blocked all attempts at holding a public inquiry.

But the truth came out anyway, as it should. Thanks, ppb and anya.

We have had some good threads over a period of time, if I remember correctly including at the time of the Francis Report.

Harry had a story to be told, one of the era. I would say that there are many men and women, probably our own grand parents and mum and dads who have reached his age could tell similar stories of health, housing, work life, starvation, some of us would have heard them first hand, if not perhaps you were lucky.

I had seen Harry giving an interview on one of the news stations a few weeks ago and it would be silly to not acknowledge the sadness of his early life and those who were living at that time. He is a good reminder of how the NHS is a wonderful institution and we are all lucky to live in a country which has the opportunity of free health care.

But. To me his tale has little to do with the NHS of this era. It is a reminder of how bad life was without it but the decades of progress made in the provision of, the huge gains in medical knowledge over medication, surgery, transplants, plastic surgery, child birth etc. etc. etc. were unheard of in the days Harry tells of. The real story of the NHS belongs to what is happening today and not from decades ago.

I have a personal issue with Andy Burnham as some may remember, I am certainly no fan of him or his time in the Labour government. I acknowledge that the NHS was introduced by Labour and was a marvellous act but that's as far as the connection goes.

Harry made an excellent speech but I just go one step further and remind myself that whilst Labour founded the NHS it was not then and is not now a domain of Labour. In it's infancy the NHS, like today, will have been serviced by good people from all political persuasions , all classes and personal wealth, we all pay into it don't we.

If I genuinely thought that Labour was the 'saviour' of the NHS I would say so but I'm afraid I just don't see anything other than a lot of hypocrisy to be honest and using the NHS as a scare tactic, well, I won't say what I feel about that.

It does not matter who did what to the NHS previously. What matters is who is going to save it now, for Harry and all who agree with him.

What's the point of saying about Harry making you cry, and then just criticising the Labour party?

If the TTIP gets passed it will not matter anyway. Cameron's cronies will take over the NHS and privatise it. Getting upset and agreeing with Harry will not matter then.
If you cannot trust Labour or Tory with the NHS, vote Green or NHA if you can. At least they want to try to stop it being privatised.

I'd be surprised if Harry has been invited to the Tory conference, but they are the ones who should listen.

Absolutely agree POGS.

This is one of the more important paragraphs in his speech.

For me, it was when he said that unless things change, his past would become our future - that is frightening to think of (but sadly, seems to already be in motion).