NHS attack by MEP 'unpatriotic'

[go west young man]

Source: BBC

Health Secretary Andy Burnham has accused a Tory MEP who attacked the NHS on American TV of being "unpatriotic".

Labour has stepped up its criticism of Daniel Hannan, who waded into the debate over Barack Obama's health bill.

They claim his view - that the NHS is outdated, unfair and should be scrapped - is shared by many Conservatives.

But David Cameron said Mr Hannan's view was "eccentric" and accused Labour of making a meal of the row, stressing that the NHS was his top priority.


Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8200817.stm

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The British debate is heating up and could have a large impact on the American one.

[KingFlorez]

1. Apparently, right-wingers everywhere are idiots

It's universal.

[billyoc]

2. I want to start calling the Republicans "Tories".

I really want that.

[realisticphish]

4. haha

awesome, especially with the American historical implications of that

[Libertas1776]

5. Tories

That does have a nice ring to it.

[LeftishBrit]

11. That's what British Conservatives are commonly called to this day.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

9. get the meme out there

The Republicans' ideological allies in Canada already self-identify as 'Tories' (Conservative Party of Canada) as do of course their British allies (Conservative Party).

[Selatius]

3. I doubt it. The US public is largely insulated from any debate in England.

FOX News and CNN don't cover debates in British Parliament very often or even the debate out in the street in Britain. I don't foresee that changing anytime soon. Those who get most of their news from the internet are another story though. There is no institutional block against reading news out of the UK.

[dipsydoodle]

6. Hannan is an attention seaker

aka complete tosser.

[oldironside]

7. Tosser?

There's a word I haven't heard in a long time, and highly appropriate for that little creep. I hope the good people of South East England will give him a warm welcome if he dares show his face in his constituency again.

[T_i_B]

20. Here's the problem

I hope the good people of South East England will give him a warm welcome if he dares show his face in his constituency again.

The first problem is that Hannan is MEP for the South-East region, which for starters is possibly the most Tory of all the regions.

Secondly, he's top of the Tory list for that region and as such is guaranteed re-election whatever tripe he spouts. Unless Cameron demotes him way down the list you've got no chance whatsoever of getting rid of him. Here's a petition to that effect but quite frankly Hannan's fanbase in the Tory party is big enough to allow him to keep his cushy job.

http://www.petitiononline.com/sackdan/petition.html

P.S. Thanks to the Mods for sending this thread down here. Beats some of the Daily Mail sourced rubbish which sometimes gets posted!

[oldironside]

21. What you say is true...

... and he's unlikely to be tarred and feathered, but there are more non-Tories in that region that you'd think. Yes, he's pretty much guaranteed reelection (you could put a gorilla up in a blue rosette around there and it would get elected), but that doesn't mean he hasn't caused an awful lot of resentment. My parents (and a lot of the rest of my family) live in that region and the general feeling is that he has merely said what the rest of the Tory party are thinking, and this could have far wider repercussions in the next general election.

It could) boost the Labour turn out nationwide, could mean a lot of people thinking of voting Tory take fright at a threat to the NHS and drift towards the Lib Dems. It could also as a side effect attract UKIP voters back to the Tories if they think he's representative of what they really think.

We won't really know what effect it's had until it's reflected in the opinion polls, but I think it's worth noting that the three banana skins the Tories have slipped on in the last week (this, Alan Duncan's rationing and David Cameron's free flights) have all taken place on Peter Mandelson's watch. I don't like the guy any more than the next old Labour voter, but if he can keep Cameron out of No.10 (I still feel the best we can hope for is a hung parliament) it will be one of the greatest feats in modern politics.

Agree with your comment about the Mail. FAR too much of it here.

[T_i_B]

23. I was thinking more of the Euro elections then the general election

After all, Hannan is an MEP, and as such I was thinking of how this might affect his re-election chances. Quite frankly it won't affect that much in the slightest unless Cameron decides to demote him down the list.

The one effect of all this on Hannan is that it makes the chances of him doing a Nick Clegg and going from Brussels to Westminster as a high flying MP in a safe seat less likely.

[LeftishBrit]

22. This resident of South East England will certainly give him the welcome he deserves

However, it's a big constituency, and while I don't live in a right-wing part of it, there are some areas that are ultra-RW: enough to send 4 Tories to the Euro-Parliament, not to mention 2 UKIP-ers. The one thing you can say about our delegation is that it didn't move to the right in the last Euro-election like many others - it was already practically as RW as it could be! Though we do have Caroline Lucas.

The only hope for getting rid of dear Danny is if the national Tories step in.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

8. For any Tory government to scrap the NHS would be electoral suicide

and Tory frontbenchers know this. Tory right-wingers in the European Parliament can openly-spout their ideological hatred of universal free healthcare as they have no electoral repercussions themselves.

[LeftishBrit]

10. No government here would DARE to abolish the NHS.

And yes, it could be regarded as unpatriotic - an attack on one of the best things in modern Britain, and a threat to the lives of fellow-citizens.

[oldironside]

12. Agreed...

... and this row could very well cost the Tories their absolute majority in the next election. An awful lot of people were either not going to vote, or going to vote 'against' Labour. This issue could shift that negativity onto the Tories too, if Labour plays the issue for all it's worth. Hung Parliament anyone?

Just look at any of the comments pages in the English papers about this row (obviously avoid the Independent's cover story today - it was linked on the Drudge Report and has been taken over by semi literate morans who want us to kiss their asses for saving us in WW2 - didn't Ben Afleck win the Battle of Britain?) and it's clear that the British people are furious about this. With good reason. If Daniel Hannan wants to dismantle the NHS, I take that as a direct threat to kill my dear old mum.

You'll have to get past me (and a few million others) first, Mr Hannan.

[non sociopath skin]

13. yes, this needs to be played for all it's worth ...

... at the next UK General Election.

Deep down, the Tories loathe the NHS - have since the beginning, always will - but they have to pay lip service to it as it's so very popular.

The Great British Public need to be reminded that, if there ever was the chance, they would replace it with something like the US system. For the usual contribution from Private Healthcare and Big Pharma to party funds, of course.

The Skin

[oldironside]

14. It's developing into the major story for the next election.

I don't know if you've seen the front page of the Observer today, but the Tory party's sheep's clothing is slipping.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/aug/16/tory-mps-back-nhs-dismantling

[non sociopath skin]

15. Yup. Good that it's happened so early on.

I haven't total faith in the Great British Public, but I doubt whether we'll have Zombies with "Smash the NHS NOW" placards outside our political meetings, come the General Election.

Unless the Tories fly them in from the States, of course ...:evilgrin:

The Skin

[oldironside]

16. Labour need to hammer this home at the conference

"We are the party that created it, and we are the only party that are able and willing to defend it."

Daniel Hannan has really done us all a favour. Anything that keeps that loathsome creep Cameron out of Number 10 must be a good thing.

Flying morans in from the states isn't an option because I doubt any of them have passports and they probably think the world is flat. "I'm not gettin' inta that there iron bird! If gawd had meant us ta flah he'd eh never invented SUVs."
(by the way, that's pretty much how my Texan friend speaks when she's had a drink or five - the difference is she doesn't mean it)

[non sociopath skin]

17. Morans sans frontieres LOL

The Skin

[Anarcho-Socialist]

18. This may be Labour's last chance before the election

so little wonder they're trying to capitalise on it. The best thing they can hope for I feel is a Hung Parliament or a slim Tory majority.

[oldironside]

19. Agreed...

... but any chance is better than no chance and it did look like they were heading for oblivion. They may just be able to get some traction out of this.