300-mile march to protest NHS privatisation sets off tomorrow

Tomorrow the People’s March for the NHS will set off  on a 300-mile protest to defend the NHS.

The march, organised by a group of women from Darlington (who go by the name of the DarloMums), takes the protestors on same path as that trod by 207 people who took part in the Jarrow March (a protest against high levels of unemployment and poverty in the North East) in 1936.

Beginning in Jarrow, the march will cover 300 miles and include 21 overnight stops before ending in Parliament Square, London on the 6th September.

DarloMums have explained that they hope the march will bring attention to the privatisation of the health service:

“It’s really hard to passively watch the rapid dismantling, privatisation and destruction of the NHS. First we had the Health & Social Care Act, then Section 75 and more recently Clause 119 of the Care Bill. The Government have legislated to open the NHS to the open market.

We believe every penny saved in the NHS should go back into improving and developing our NHS. We don’t want to see private companies operating in the NHS under the heading of ‘efficiency’ when we know they are accountable to their shareholders, who are only interested in maximum profit before patient health care. We are asking the public to join us for a mile or two, or join us for ten or the full 300 miles, come to our rallies, just be part of the fightback.”

The details of the route of the march can be found at: www.999callfornhs.org.uk.