“The British Red Cross are just a bunch of liars,” said Theresa May, today. “They are not decent and honourable people like, say MPs for example. The NHS is just fine and dandy. You can’t believe anything these tree-hugging liberals say.” Not her exact words, I know, but to reject claims of NHS crisis from the largest humanitarian crisis organisation in the world, which operates in hospitals all over the country and has no political affiliations, suggests she believes the BRC is telling porkies.
If the NHS is not in crisis when everyone working within it knows it is, what is your evidence to the contrary? “Funding is now at record levels,” said the PM. “And there are too many old people. We’re going to do something about that. We’re leaving the EU so prices will go up so much many old people won’t be able to feed themselves or keep warm.” (She actually said, “We have taken some immediate steps in relation to that issue but we are also looking to ensure best practice in the NHS and looking for a long-term solution,” which is classic Mayhem waffle.)
Sorting out the crisis her government has caused was “not a five-minute job,” she said. An extra £1bn is going into mental health within the NHS but Mrs May said it was “always wrong to assume the only answer is about funding”. I’m struggling with that one. It might not literally be the only answer is about funding, but it’s the main reason. It’s the same with the social care crisis. May and her predecessor Cameron (remember him?) have cut £4.6 billion from the social care budget which has helped contribute to the NHS crisis. She will probably come out with some similar drivel that it’s not just about the money, money, money. But it is about the money.
The Red Cross is not an organisation that meddles in politics. It has one aim and that is to help people in crisis no matter who or where they are. People may be surprised that the Red Cross is active in Britain, but it is. Not every crisis is about Syria or Yemen because people are in crisis at home. I meet them every day of my working life. It is pointless trying to compare, say, Aleppo with someone all alone with a terminal illness, not receiving the care s/he should get. But a crisis is a crisis and it is simply not good enough for a British prime minister to go round pretending the Red Cross is exaggerating and lying. What possibly motives would the BRC have for exaggerating and lying? It’s a nonsense.
May, on the basis of all available evidence, is hopelessly out of her depth as PM. Her absurd response to the BRC proves it. And if it came down to a choice of having to believe in a Red Cross volunteer helping someone come home from hospital and helping them settle back in and an out-of-touch prime minister, I won’t spend all that long coming up with the answer.
