Virgin is seeking to privatize the NHS, and the group has Virgin Care, which is one of the largest private care providers contracted by the NHS. Naturally, Virgin Care pays no corporation tax -- Richard Branson has an allergy to tax, and doctors and politicians have so far not found a cure.
Vote Labour next election and fund the public sector properly!
Sigh. That time came 5 months ago and is now gone until the next 5 years. In the mean time perhaps you can play your part in donating in someway or even somewhere else instead of complaining.
May I ask: - Do you use this approach more generally in your work? At first glance, it feels heavyweight for something like a blog (e.g. the intention site), but after perusal I appreciated the clarity of the Clojure code. Just curious if you've been doing this a lot and whether you find it efficient in the longer-term. - Do you have any opinions regarding the more "framework like" static generation tools for Clojure (misaki, etc)?
The Government's current drive to propagandise their ongoing failure to fund essential public service should not be tolerated.
(For those who are unaware, in the UK we are currently being asked by the powers that be to take part in a "clapping session" on the streets weekly).
My sister is on the frontline. She's just finished a bunch of night shifts in an ITU as a HCA so I'll text her later, and if it's anything like recent weeks she will be exhausted, scared and frustrated.
She will be exhausted because there aren't enough staff.
She will be scared because she is working with Covid-19 +ive patients and is a single parent - she notes on ITU that PPE supply is actually OK, it's when she gets shifts on general wards it becomes more of a lottery.
She is frustrated because politics, economics and healthcare have collided in horrible ways in the last 25 years or so in the UK that has left us very much on the back foot in our ability to deal with a sudden emergency.
She won't be alone in those feelings. There isn't a nurse or doctor in the country who doesn't experience those things in some measure at least some - if not most - of the time.
The first time the clapping happened, she cried. It was recognition of thanks for the tiredness, fear and frustration that she and her colleagues go through.
It's OK to be pissed off at the Tories AND clap. It's not mutually exclusive.
The problem is when we are asked to be pissed off OR clap, and we choose to clap, and then trot down to the polling station and ask for "more of the same please!"
We need to remember this at the ballot box. If you clap and you then vote for this shower of pillocks, well, you'll go to the grave aware of your hypocrisy, and let's just hope the NHS is still there to make it as painless as possible.
This Thursday go out and clap. If you have kids, get them to paint a rainbow.
And then vote when you get the chance.
There are definitely people in health services that deserve praise, but praising the institution in this way is a bit different...
I didn't realise it was either/or.
The UK media is owned by the very rich. They don't want to pay for the NHS, they want you to clap, and no more.
I have nothing against this post, generating a rainbow, no problem. My reply is about the general UK scene of clapping but not funding the NHS.
It's not just to "propagandise" - it's to show, for a brief moment, that we appreciate their effort. We can then go back 2 minutes later to hate the Tories as much as before. Having a clap in no way makes me think I've "done my bit for the NHS" any more than voting left each and every time.
Another cynical look about the hero worship of the NHS is that heroes often die, if I were running a government that failed to supply PPE to doctors and nurses, I'd cheer on the idea of making them heroes because then their deaths would become something honourable and somewhat acceptable...
Though I do agree that the NHS should be better funded.
He did the walk in support of NHS Charities Together, an umbrella organisation of independent charities that support the NHS, and their publicity team contacted the media.
I ask because surely most of the country knows the existing connection between the rainbow symbol and LGBT issues.
Like, areas of my city painted roads in rainbow colours several years running to show welcome and support.
I’m vaguely wondering whether the rainbow was deliberately hijacked, in the same way as the phrase ‘postcode lottery’ was repurposed by the right.
People can do nice things, you don't need to attach conspiracy theories to them.
