After a nurse forced David Cameron to face the music last week, another ordinary member of the public has spoken truth to power. In scenes reminiscent of Sharon Storer‘s encounter with Tony Blair in 2001, a pensioner snatched the opportunity to accost Andrew Lansley outside Downing Street moments ago.
The health secretary attempted to claim:
“There is no privatisation”
Sky News’ Joey Jones reported the woman was “in tears” after the exchange.
Finally, Lansley’s been forced into a proper listening exercise.
15 Comments
Ordinary member of the public? Or former Unison Rep and member of protest group “Keep The NHS Public”. I think we know.
How “spontaneous”. I wonder how the BBC camera crew knew where to be.
Activists are members of the public too. That’s why they want to “Keep the NHS Public”. Oh, the irony of your comment, Cropstar!
Yes, I can’t imagine why on earth there would be television cameras outside Downing Street, especially when there’s a heavily publicised and controversial meeting about to take place.
Also BBC News have taken a rather interesting step of putting a ‘Sky News’ decal in the corner of their screens. Flawless comments EalingBlue.
@EalingBlue – Sky News camera crew!
@EalingBlue BBC? I can see why you came to that conclusion. Its not as if theres a Sky News graphic on screen during the entire clip or anything.
Truly ecceptional arogance that anyone to stand up to the government on Health reforms, reforms that even a majority of their own voters are now against, is therefore not normal. An interesting tortology that means that they don’t have to listen to anyone, pesky democracy.
If any readers haven’t added their name to the 150,000 who have signed the petition on the governments website do so here http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/22670
Indeed, when Political Scapbook called her an “ordinary member of the public” that was certainly not an attempt to hide the fact that she’s a former union rep and longstanding left-wing agitator.
Sharon Storrer (yes it does have two Rs) just happened to be at that hospital when Tony Blair turned up. She hadn’t gone along with the intention of shouting abuse at politicians. But when Political Scrapbook compares June Hautot to Ms Storrer, that is in no way an attempt to suggest that she had done the same.
Claiming that “a pensioner snatched the opportunity to accost Andrew Lansley outside Downing Street” certainly isn’t intended to hide the fact that she’d gone to Downing Street specifically because she knew the NHS summit was taking place and she wanted to shout at people going into Downing Street. Only a rabid Tory could think ordinary pensioners don’t behave that way all the time. There’s nothing dishonest about this post at all.
Lansley is an arrogant pig who will go down in history as a complete failure of a politician who managed to ruin the English health service.
Cropstar…So what is Andrew Lansley if he is not a ‘political activist’?
The Lansley video was strangely reminiscent of something else: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM9q7axqCA0&feature=youtu.be
@hobson
How DARE that member of the public decide to protest in this fashion!
She has every right to protest however she wants. My concern is with the misleading way Political Scrapbook has written the story, as you know Al because it’s pretty clear from my comment.
One argument I would have with Mrs Hautot however is her claim that the Tories have been privatising since 1979. Ok, the Tories have been privatising all sorts of other things since 1979, but not the NHS. That began under Labour following their 1997 election victory, and Mr Lansley is simply continuing Mr Blair’s work.
Surprise surprise….union firebrand upset by Tory policy. Fuck me, Lansley could be giving out free money but cause its a Tory the Leftie cunts have to whinge whine and complain. Keep going….please. Its more ammunition to fire back at you twats.
Sy G, don’t try and paint this as partisan politics, when it’s clearly an ideological difference based on Lansley’s selling off of NHS beds and so on.