Nye (Aneurin) Bevan was the person who first inspired me, as a schoolboy in the 1950s, to become involved in politics. I am still a Bevanite today. Nye was the great Labour Health Minister and socialist who created the National Health Service in 1948, 60 years ago this weekend. He battled against the mass opposition of the doctors of the time and was publicly vilified and abused by the medical establishment. But he won the battle with the support of millions of ordinary people - 85% of the population - and brought a free health service for all into being for the first time.
No longer did poor people have to watch their children die of appendicitis because they could not afford a doctor - desperately giving them spoonfuls of castor oil which of course did not work. No longer did people have to struggle with hernias the size of grapefruits because they could not afford an operation. 93% of voters today still believe health services should be free at the point of need and paid for out of general taxation.
Yes, Nye Bevan was my hero, and still is. Passionate and principled, he was committed, brave and determined, a man who started working in the South Wales coalmines when he was just 13 but who read books and largely educated himself to become one of the greatest orators in British politics with a wonderful way with words and sometimes devastating use of language against his many and fierce opponents. Sadly he died too young, of cancer in 1960.
So much was I in awe of his achievement that I remember telling my new girlfriend at length about the NHS as we walked to Barnet Fair (we both lived in Barnet at the time). She was utterly bemused by this strange and earnest young man, but something must have clicked because Pat and I have now been married for several decades!
The trouble with our NHS is that it is still overstretched and under funded. Vast sums have been wasted on horrendously expensive PFI schemes, and creeping privatisation is channelling more taxpayers' money into the deep pockets of private health companies. I have campaigned, spoken and voted against this process at every turn but the drive towards privatisation continues, despite the opposition of four out of five voters.
A few years ago, on the day of a big House of Commons vote on another supposed "reform" of the Health Service I was walking into Parliament and met a northern New Labour MP (I am most definitely not New Labour myself - real Labour perhaps). She asked me if I was going to behave myself in the Commons that day. Somewhat insulted, I said I always behaved myself. She said "I mean, what are you doing in the vote tonight?" I said I was voting for Nye Bevan's health service. She then became a little agitated and said "I mean, are you voting with the government?" to which I replied, "Of course not. As I said, I shall be voting for Nye Bevan's health service and not for it to be dismantled."
At this point, my colleague became very annoyed and said "Don't you understand, Tony (Blair I presumed) is fighting for socialism". I had rarely heard anything so astonishing in my life and asked her rather feebly whether she ever read the newspapers. At this point, she said "I cannot stand any more of this", and ran away with her hands over her ears. Later that day I voted with several dozen Labour MPs to oppose the misguided legislation, but the Government secured a small majority in the vote and had its way.
I continue to speak up and vote for Nye Bevan's NHS, and will not stop until we have realised his dream in full. That will not happen until we spend on health in Britain at the similar levels as the French and Germans. The difference between those two countries and Britain is equivalent to about £50 million per parliamentary constituency in each and every year. Health spending has risen substantially since 1997, but we are still a long way from where we should be.
Just imagine, £100 million extra for health in Luton in every year. And just imagine if we had had that £100 million a year extra for the last 30 years. By now there would be no waiting lists, no MRSA, no waiting weeks for scans and nor waiting days to see one's family doctor. The health service has improved, and things have got better, but there is still a long way to go. It is still wonderful and absolutely right in principle, but the practice also needs adequate funding. The NHS does not need constant reorganisation, endless so-called "reform" and American health corporations siphoning off cash. It does need more money and a chance to show what it can do.
Hundreds of thousands work in the NHS, not just for a living - although of course they must be properly paid - but because they believe passionately in a publicly provided health service. They are driven by an ethos of public service, not private profit. That public service ethos is precious, indeed beyond price and it deserves our reverence.
Kelvin Hopkins MP
