Many of you have been questioning our post from the other day regarding the support that Andy Burnham has shown for our campaign. Lots of people angry that we would align ourselves to the Labour Party. So I thought I should address this issue and explain to you what the 999 Campaign is about at its core. The small group of us, who started this campaign are made up of people who come from lots of political backgrounds. Some ex Lib Dem voters, Greens, Labour voters and even a mum who hadnt really voted before. She, like millions of us, felt she had no party that represented her views and that she didnt want to vote for them since they were all the same. And then the Coalition Government started running things, and she changed her mind and I am very glad she did. We dont support the Labour Party lets just set the record straight. We dont support any one party. We support the NHS. We support a publicly owned, publicly run Health Service. We are anti privatisation, of course, but theres more to it than that. We propose a change in our political culture. We want ordinary people to feel empowered and get involved in politics. If you dont like your local council, stand as a councillor. You dont like your MP? Stand as an independent and change it. Be the change you wish to see in the world. We want young people to vote for their own futures. We want to protect the core of what makes us a civilised society. We want to include people in our fight for the NHS, not exclude them.We dont have to agree with everything someone stands for. We just have to agree that these core values are worth fighting for. So we ask you, if you agree, to do the same. The reality, we think, is that next spring our country will FINALLY be given a chance to tell David Cameron what we think of his style of politics, and replace them with a new government. So who do we vote for? Do we not vote like Russell Brand suggests? Well, you have to make up your own mind is the answer to that. But what we think is that if by any chance Andy Burnham is going to be part of the next government, then it would be ludicrous not to try and influence and get him to listen to what we expect from him. Just like we have been working with Nattalie Bennett and Clive Peedell. The truth is, no amount of pressure on the Conservatives is going to change their course. They are a runaway train on course for full scale destruction of our NHS. So our job is to influence the debate in those areas where people MIGHT listen. Lets work together and change our course if we can. We want to bring together all the campaigns, all the ordinary voices, all the parties and people who are prepared to fight for our NHS. THATS why we are marching 300 miles. So that the man on his own in Loughborough, who doesnt know who to vote for, can still voice his opinion and feel able to fight. So the single mum in London can push a push-chair a mile and be part of the fight. So the collective angry, silent people can all become part of the ONE thing we do agree on.... We MUST save our NHS. Some of you may be concerned that our campaign could be hijacked. But if by hijacked, you mean picked up by politicians that have noticed how angry we all are... then I say bring it on. If they get into power and let us down.. then BELIEVE ME, we WILL march right back to parliament and carry on the fight. Dont fight each other, fight together. Dont give up hope or you have already lost. Join the march. Join the fight. #march4NHS Joanna Adams
Posted on: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 22:11:01 +0000