Thread by @LizzyJPrice

@oxfordstays - an evening with @gavinesler and @doctor_oxford
Discussing Brexit & its impact on the NHS and the country.

#BrexitUnspun

@doctor_oxford spoke of her duty as a Dr to act in the best interest of patients, often the most vulnerable members of society, who are often those who lack a voice.

And there is no doubt that Brexit will harm the NHS. It already is, both in terms of personnel & in terms of resource. Our NHS relies heavily on EU27 doctors, nurses and staff.

The ref campaign to leave was a xenophobic campaign. Directly afterwards colleagues from the EU27 left because they no longer felt welcome here and were the object of abuse. Wards and a hospice shut because of the lack of personnel.

We are now short of 100,000 staff in the NHS - including 40,000 nurses and 10,000 doctors.

And the NHS also suffers because of a lack of a Medicines Agency.

If no deal happens it will be catastrophic for our medicine supply chains: isotopes for treating cancer, insulin for diabetes, flu vaccines.

So what can we do?

We can all use our voice.

We can speak to our neighbours & friends.

We can all write to our MPs.

Because then our small voice becomes a roar.

Together we can make a difference.

@gavinesler spoke of the lies that have taken hold of our political discourse and allowed to take hold.

From the lies that have been told for decades about the EU to that lie on the bus for the Leave campaign.

Johnson et al claim we will get a great trade deal with the US.. but it will be at the expense of our own standards.

The pork meat lobby in the US is some 60K producers in 42 states with a massive influence over the US senate. And they want access to the UK market.

The US wants to remove EU health standards which make pork produced with ractopamine illegal to import into the EU.

Among other side effects, ractopamine can induce pigs to suffer hyperactivity, trembling and broken limbs.

The US also want the UK to change its mind on the use of antibiotics in animals, the use of which reduces their effectiveness in humans.

Trade deals are of course subject to negotiations. But we are small and a rushed trade deal with the US to make up for loss of trade with the EU will make us more vulnerable to an erosion of our standards of health and hygiene.

Trump is a known and accepted liar. Do we accept that our politics should go the same way?

We need to think about the importance of evidence in our political debate and we need to challenge our broadcasters on the issue of balance: you can’t pit one expert against a non expert. You can’t have a climate change expert against someone who knows nothing about the science.

But let’s come back to the lying. The lie on the bus was a lie.
But it appealed to an emotion.

The challenge for us is that we need to understand the emotion that led to the acceptance of the lie, while insisting at the same time on evidence and accountability.

Thank you both and to @oxfordstays for a really thought provoking evening.

And yes, let’s use our voice. Let us be heard.

See you on 19 October. #LetUsBeHeard