The NHS: a bit like my mad old aunt
No really, the NHS is just like my dear mad old aunt. Within the family we bitched about her amongst ourselves all the time. But let anyone from outside the family “have a go” at her and we would close ranks to defend her quicker than you could say “mad old bat”.
Likewise here we are, knowing that there are 100 things wrong with an old creaking system that we cant afford and have wasted way too much money on . Yet, our cousins across the pond have a dig about the NHS and suddenly we up in arms about it – Cameron and Brown shoulder to shoulder – frothing at the mouth at the very idea that they might criticise our system. Come on if you think you’re hard enough!
Worse – when a British MEP dares to speak the unspeakable we are all but ready to have him strung up from the nearest lamp post. Some Tories are even calling for poor old Daniel Hannan (who has a bit of the madness about him, himself) to be kicked out of the party. Get a grip boys and girls he was hardly suggesting we take all GPs outside and shoot them. We still have such a things a free speech dont we?
Families are funny old things. Politics is even funnier. Give it a week or two and we will be back to complaining about MRSA, the number of penpushers in hospitals, the shortage of midwives,the postcode lottery on waiting lists, the cost of parking in hospital carparks, the mortality rate for cancer compared with the rest of the world and so forth…. Just dont let us hear anyone from outside the family have a pop.
August 14th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
As Iain Dale points out, we seem to be obsessed with the NHS- not the nation’s health. Do people not see the difference?
August 14th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
You are right – as a one of my saner aunts would often say – there are many ways to skin a cat. I dont think anyone is actually against excellent healthcare for anyone. I am not sure why we are determined that the current system is the ONLY way it can be provided.
August 14th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
You’d have a point if it was a disinterested party commenting on the way aunty misbehaves.
But it’s not, it’s another family, whose aunty is twice as mad and demented, critiscising our old aunty. It reeks of hypocrisy and willful ignorance.
The NHS needs serious work, but to have it critiscised by the right wing fruit loops of a nation that thinks the already sick and the working and lower middle classes shouldn’t have access to healthcare, well, it’s a bit too much.
August 14th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Akheloios: your angst, especially at almost-pub-time on a Friday, kind of proves the point.
Dizzy’s summed up the madness fairly well: http://dizzythinks.net/2009/08/grow-up-you-morons.html
August 14th, 2009 at 9:01 pm
[...] Angela has already pointed out slagging off the NHS is a national pastime… except when a British politician does it on American [...]