Scotland joins biggest ever Manchester rally

#NHS299 Scottish branches are among the tens of thousands marching through Manchester today to save our NHS. Police estimates at the moment put the marchers at 50,000 with more still arriving. Some reports say it is the biggest demo Manchester has seen in recent times.

At one stage the UNISON Scotland banner was proudly at the front until the poles broke again. Questions are being asked as to whether banner bearer extraordinaire Stephen Low knows his own strength!

UNISON Scotland convener Lilian Macer addressed demonstrators at the start of the march which included delegations from Glasgow Clyde and CVS, Clackmannashire, Highland, and Edinburgh.

While devolution means the ConDems can't run down and privatise our NHS in Scotland directly, what they can do is starve it of resources. They are cutting back on the money provided to the Scottish Government and this puts the health budget under pressure.



UNISON NHS Glasgow Clyde and CVS branch
banner on the march in Manchester

In the last few weeks alone there have been reports of hospital understaffing, health visitors struggling to maintain a universal service and severe problems due to bed numbers going down.

NHS staff know from their day to day work that they are continually under pressure, having to do more with less - and they can see what managers are doing to try and meet targets.

So the Tories aren't just attacking the NHS in England - they are attacking it everywhere. Everyone who wants to maintain the fairest and most cost-effective health service in the world needs to be part of the fight to defend the NHS.

From Wick to Weymouth our health service belongs to all of us. We all have a duty to stand up and tell the Tories that we won't see it run down or sold off.

UNISON Edinburgh Branch banner