Labour set to highlight NHS voices with new election broadcast

Labour’s newest election broadcast is set to highlight the voices of NHS workers, as Jeremy Corbyn’s party further emphasises the need to use the upcoming general election to “save our NHS”.

The video, which has been seen by LabourList before being aired at 6pm today, stars NHS doctor Sonia Adesara, who has also been an active Labour and Fabian member. Over the weekend, she tweeted a video explaining that she had just worked “one of the worst nights in A&E”. The clip received almost two million views.

It also features Rob Delaney, the American comedian and actor best known for British series Catastrophe. He talks about his personal experience of the NHS and his view of the institution from an American perspective.

“You don’t want what I grew up with,” Rob says, explaining that a car accident in the US many years ago led to him being dropped by his insurance company. This left him with tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills. The actor compares this experience with the support that his son received in Britain.

A Labour video featuring Rob titled ‘Our Wonderful NHS’, parts of which have been used for the PEB, went viral earlier in the campaign. The original video has now been viewed 6.5 million times on Twitter, and 6.9 million on Facebook.

Throughout, ordinary NHS workers – a nurse called Iain, paediatrician Tony, doctor Keiran and midwife Verna – are given the opportunity to express their love of the institution as well as their concerns over its current austerity-worn state. This approach, using clips of NHS staff, has often been used by Labour during the campaign.

The broadcast starts by giving prominence to old Labour Party posters focussed on the value of the NHS, and ends on a positive note with a description of the NHS as “brilliant”. Rob Delaney says it is “the pinnacle of human achievement”.

The video closes with testimonials from people voting Labour on Thursday. The message is clear: “To save the NHS, make sure you vote Labour.”

Labour’s latest PEB will air at 6pm tonight.