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Video: 93yo WWII veteran talks about creation of NHS – and watching Tories try to prevent it

93-year-old Barrie Clarke’s eyewitness account shows Tory opposition to the NHS goes back to before its birth

A World War II veteran of almost 93 years of age has spoken of his personal experience of the creation of the NHS – and of watching Tory MPs try to block it.

Nottinghamshire man Barrie Clarke’s eyewitness testimony shows that the Conservatives tried to prevent the birth of the NHS – and will remind viewers of the late, great Harry Leslie Smith, whose description of the horrors of working-class life before free healthcare made him a hero of the NHS:

SKWAWKBOX view:

Barrie’s words also remind us that you can never trust a Tory with the NHS. The Conservatives wanted it never to exist – and they are using every trick and subterfuge to hide its destruction until it’s too late.

Mr Clarke is another hero of the Labour movement – and a vital reminder to those who grew up with the NHS that it must not, cannot, be taken for granted.

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14 comments

  1. Good to remind us all that we owe more than we can ever pay back to the generation that fought for all of us and gave us the NHS and the welfare state..And we must always remember that.Never forget the blood spilt on the battlefield of Europe and further afield to satisfy the warmongers who are still with us.Never again!

  2. And to think that I passed a news stand yesterday where I caught the front page of the Daily Fail (I think?) which had the headline in mile- high letters “Veterans say For god’s sake vote conservative”
    I was absolutely spitting mad for a good few hours, especially as the news stand was right in front of an actual army veteran selling poppies!
    Effing lying shitrags. I am still angry about just the thought of seeing that.

  3. I fear that this direct contact with the generations that went through two world wars, and who *knew* what the ’45 election was about, is, inevitably being lost. Instead we have knuckle-draggers spouting fantasy bollocks about what happened in the war as a justification for xenophobia and isolationism.

    Of course, the inevitability of time can’rt be avoided, but thjat directly imparted knowledge was so important to many of us growing up after WWII – we were told authoritatively about the excrescence that is the Tory Party. My parents and grandparents had no illusions, for instance, about Thatcher bringing a new dawn – they *knew* it was the same old shit with polished knobs on.

    1. I’ve worked alongside many knuckledraggers – there were quite a few proud and strident Tommy Robinson followers at one company.
      One of the stunted fuckwits once loudly declared that the Poles had been cowards in WWII.
      This was in a company employing a couple of dozen Polish people, who were good workers & pleasant colleagues.
      Thankfully most Brits there weren’t of the hard-of-thinking, St.George-waving UKIP type – who would when challenged claim that everybody else was secretly as racist as themselves but were too weak and too scared of the PC lobby to admit it.
      They’re apparently being brainwashed by their cult to think they’ll be the tip of the spear – future gauleiters in the war to stop Britain turning into Britistan – meanwhile they go to the football to associate and proselytise.

      Despite more than average contact with such imbeciles I never gained one iota of insight into how their ‘minds’ worked and I doubt I influenced any of them much, other than reinforcing their hatred of “clever twats.”
      I’d be a liability on the doorstep I think 🙂

      1. I smiled at your last comment. When I was more active, I decided not to temporise with irremediable knuckle-draggers on the doorstep where any idea of conversion was pie in the sky. Just used to tell it as it is. Take it or leave it (mainly the latter).

        Never did any harm to the majority.

  4. Those Tory toilet papers should be careful about what they print. We are now in purdah so all media coverage must be balanced. I understand that not doing so is a criminal offence and should be reported. Police and/or the Electoral Commission?

    1. Well so far Murdoch’s shiterags are spewing pure tory propaganda. A law unto themselves. They need a wake up call.

  5. Well maybe its about time we spent some of our membership fees on nailing any one of the Murdoch muck rakers and made an example using the election laws that is a two way steet concerning newspapers and political parties.Why waste our money 💰on nailing fantasy AS offender who are speaking the truth ,when we can stop the liars in their own filth.Come on HQ do somthing positive for the Labour party membership for a change.! I have tried praying to the alter of the almightys but they arnt listening..and my faith is being constantly challanged,Send me a message of hope not a suspension or a bus 🚌 with a one-way ticket your highneses…amen.!

  6. In the 34 second video I can see there is no mention of the Tories arguing against the NHS. Is there a longer version ?

  7. I read somewhere that the Tories tried 27times in parliament to block the act that created the NHS in 1948.

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