Thread (1/22)

This thread explores the crisis the NHS is facing, how the crisis came about, why it has not been fixed and what we should do to fix it.
(2/22)
There is no question that the NHS is in crisis – the record waiting lists alone are enough to show that.

Now almost 8 million of us are waiting to see a consultant.
(3/22)
Even Sunak admits it is an issue, which is why he pledged in January 2023 to reduce them… Image
(4/22)
… though it is noteworthy that he has since increased them.

(And that most of his other pledges have fared similarly) Image
(5/22)
How did this come about?

First note that it was not always this way…
(6/22)
… and the problem started well before COVID.
(7/22)
The problem is sustained underfunding.

Whether you look at funding as a % of GDP, in comparison with other countries, or … Image
(8/22)
… in terms of the workload the NHS is expected to bear, it is underfunded. Image
(9/22)
The government tries to deny this by pointing out that, in cash terms, the NHS now receives a “record amount of money”.

A comment which ignores inflation, the growth in the economy, the ageing of the population and the increasing rates of ill-health in the population.
(10/22)
If my salary rose at £50 per year from the age of 20, then by now:

a) I would be receiving a “record amount of money”
b) I would be living in poverty.
(11/22)
They also deny that they have been privatising the NHS claiming that “the NHS is not and never will be for sale.”

But that ignores the three ways they HAVE been busily privatising it – and the damage that has done.
99-percent.org/four-ways-to-p…
(12/22)
Rather than fix the NHS, the far-right are calling for it to be replaced with a private system and even suggesting some form of insurance-based funding. That would generate far more profit …
westcountryvoices.co.uk/saving-the-uks…
(13/22)
… but would be ruinous for many UK citizens.

And many would die.

“This is the list of what Laura Marston has sacrificed to keep herself alive: Her car, her furniture, her apartment, her retirement fund, her dog….”
99-percent.org/the-reality-of…
(14/22)
So what SHOULD we do?
Fix it.
(15/22)
In July, we launched the Rational Policy-maker’s Guide to the NHS in Parliament …
99-percent.org/parliamentary-…
(16/22)
The report pointed out that the Conservatives inherited the best healthcare system in the world… Image
(17/22)
… and that NHS performance rose steadily from 2001-2010.

The problems came after 2010. Image
(18/22)
It debunked the notion that the most cost-effective system in the developed world had mysteriously become unaffordable…
(19/22)
… and it showed that without a healthy workforce, the UK economy is doomed to fail.
(20/22)
This sparked a debate in Parliament
22.com/GerryMitchell2…
(21/22)
And there will soon be an Early Day Motion to encourage policy-makers to act rationally to safeguard the NHS for the generations to come.
edm.parliament.uk/early-day-moti…
(22/22)
Please write to your MP asking him/her to support the Early Day Motion. All you need to know is your own post-code!

writetothem.com
PS. If you think this is important, please share the thread widely, and take a look at The 99% Organisation and join us.

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More from @MrMarkEThomas

May 1
Thread (1/x)

When it was clear that Johnson was on the way out, the Conservatives launched "Operation Save Big Dog".
This thread explores "Operation Save Little Dog" – the equivalent for Sunak.
(2/x)
In Johnson’s case, the plan was to sack his advisors and civil servants and blame them for everything that Johnson might otherwise be held responsible for.
independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…
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Sunak’s plan is better thought-through.

Although this was written as satire, it seems as though it accurately captures the breadth of operations being carried out by Sunak and his team.
📷
99-percent.org/how-sunak-can-…
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Oct 16, 2023
Thread (1/32)

This thread explores the link between Silver Blaze and last week’s Labour Party conference.

In Silver Blaze, Sherlock Holmes has both to solve a killing and find a missing race-horse – and of course he does both.

Colonel Ross is the owner of the Silver Blaze: ...
(2/32)

Ross: “Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention?”
Holmes: “To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.”
Ross: “The dog did nothing in the night-time.”
Holmes: “That was the curious incident.”
(3/32)
This seems like a metaphor for last week’s Labour Party Conference (LPC23):
The conference was disciplined and well-attended;
It has been well-received by the press, the public and by senior figures outside the party;
The curious incident was what was not said.
Read 33 tweets
Oct 9, 2023
Thread (1/35)
Last week was the Conservative Party Conference, CPC23. Or perhaps there were two conferences:

· The official conference, to rally the party faithful
· The unofficial conference, to lay the ground for their others' bids for leadership.
(2/35)
This thread covers both conferences and explores what that could mean for Britain. Image
(3/35) The Official Conference
For Sunak, the conference was always going to be tricky. …
Read 36 tweets
Sep 18, 2023
Thread 1/32)
Thirteen years of increasingly far-right policies have left the UK visibly broken: we have a cost-of-living crisis; our NHS is on its knees and our schools are crumbling; and we have rivers flowing with sewage and an unaddressed climate emergency.
(2/32)
As a result, the Conservatives are now roughly 20 points behind in the polls and seem likely to lose the next election, possibly quite badly.
politico.eu/europe-poll-of…
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But they still have up to 16 months to turn the polls around. On April 1, we posted a satirical piece setting out how Sunak could still aim to cling to power, using a variety of unethical tactics.
99-percent.org/how-sunak-can-…
Read 32 tweets
Sep 2, 2023
Thread (1/48)

The 99% Organisation (@99organisation) came into being four years ago when the book 99% was published.

This thread is a personal look back at why I decided to write the book, and what has happened since publication.

Please forgive the length!
(2/48)

While I was a strategy consultant, for reasons explained in the Introduction to 99%, I began to analyse the Arab Spring and came up with the model of country stability set out below.
99-percent.org/doughnuts-for-…
(3/48)
This model turned out to have some (enough to be useful for scenario planning) predictive capability – this analysis, for example, predated Trump’s insurrection.
99-percent.org/will-america-e…
Read 49 tweets
Aug 22, 2023
Thread (1/18)

This thread looks at why (and how) we should expect the Conservative Party to fight dirty from now until (at least) the next General Election.

And at how we can best hope to avoid being manipulated.
(2/18)
The Conservative Party today is not the traditional one-nation party: it has been taken over by extremists…
99-percent.org/what-is-the-ma…
(3/18)
As many traditional Conservatives have warned us…
cdn.theguardian.tv/mainwebsite/20…
Read 20 tweets

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