PRESS RELEASE

DON’T DODGE THE ISSUES:  38 DEGREES GRILLS CANDIDIATES ON TAX, NHS AND TTIP

One of world’s largest campaign groups invites local residents and schoolchildren to question Pavilion candidates on key issues

Caroline on TTIP: “It’s a dangerous agreement: it should be thrown out completely.”

Caroline on NHS: “No ifs, maybes or U-turns: our NHS must have patients not profit at heart – interests of private profiteers must have no role in our most precious national health service”

CAROLINE and her fellow Pavilion candidates will be grilled on Thursday by local voters and schoolchildren at a special hustings hosted by campaign group 38 degrees.

And make no bones about it, the group plans to hold candidates to account on some of the biggest issues of the day, including tax dodging, the NHS and TTIP.
 

It follows on from a special ceremony on Saturday where local campaigners for the group presented their constituency candidates with signatures collected in their area as part of a #SaveOurNHS petition for truly public, properly protected health service.

On Thursday, some of the 10,000 people who signed the petition in Brighton will attend the hustings to get answers straight from candidates themselves.

At Saturday’s 30 degrees NHS event, Caroline spoke of the NHS Bill 2015, which she tabled, supported by backbenchers across parties. The Bill was developed by leading public health experts, its principles are backed by the BMA, and it’s seen huge support from medical professionals, the public and campaign groups.

It seeks to restore the founding principles of the NHS, to halt creeping privatisation and fully restore the NHS as an accountable public service – with time and flexibility for implementation, reversing 25 years of marketisation, for an NHS that is truly public, joined-up, fully protected and free at the point of delivery.

Caroline said: “Our NHS must have patients, not profit at its heart – the interests of private profiteers must have no role in our most precious national service: no ifs, maybes or U-turns.

“The NHS Bill is drafted to enable a grassroots, bottom-up reinstatement of a public NHS, guided by the people sharing best practice today. Scotland’s done it, so why can’t we?

“A national service has to be about whole systems, not isolated institutions. In 1946, Bevan and those who fought for and created our NHS did so following six years of toil and unimaginable sacrifice. What the founders of our NHS achieved was radical and far-reaching and they did it in the face of strong opposition. So can we.”

Caroline has been an outspoken critic of TTIP, championing the opposition against it in Parliament and in communities. The Green Party is the only party to outright oppose TTIP.

At Saturday’s 38 degrees NHS meeting, asked about her TTIP stance, Caroline said: “The Green Party is absolutely committed to doing everything we can to stop TTIP in its tracks. What TTIP does is enshrine corporate power over public services. IT has no role in our NHS or any other public services or anything else – it’s a dangerous agreement: it should be thrown out completely.”

Caroline has also pledged to fight for transparency on government TTIP negotiations and ensure companies are not allowed to sue governments for introducing laws to protect people and the environment.

She has consistently held other parties to account on measures to truly tackle tax dodging, pressing them to take seriously the billions lost via evasion and avoidance tactics.

ENDS

The event will be held at 6-8pm Thursday 30 April Patcham High School, Ladies Mile Road, Brighton