Why I don’t agree with clapping for the NHS
Our weekly clapping is drowning out the reality of this government’s handling of the pandemic and its neglect of the NHS
As a socialist, I fully support universal healthcare. That’s not to suggest those principles need to accompany each other but I say it to provide context. Although my political leaning has likely increased my lamenting of the underfunding and under-resourcing, and the often little discussed mismanagement, that the NHS has aggressively been subject to under successive Tory and Tory-led governments.
I stand in solidarity with the NHS and those who staff it. I angrily deplore the aforementioned having caused such an emotional, mental and sadly physical cost to those staff during the peak of the pandemic and beyond. The government’s call to protect the NHS is ironic given successive Tory governments have consistently given the NHS a kicking. Moreover, they have lambasted its staff alongside other public sector workers they have vilified.
It’s because of this that I don’t agree with the weekly clapping for the NHS. It is an empty gesture, driven by the jingoistic rhetoric employed by a Prime Minister who portrays Covid-19 as a wartime enemy, as he whips up the government’s braying supporters into a frenzy. His strategy has…
