Keep Our NHS Public condemns the far-right rioting that has taken place in Southport last week and around the UK over the weekend of 6/7 August and beyond. This shocking and upsetting violence must be recognised by politicians as racist and Islamophobic and not some kind of legitimate protest. We extend our solidarity to Muslims, migrants and people from ethnic minorities at this time of increased threat.
Typically, those on the right choose to scapegoat migrants for crumbling public services. For example, the crisis in the NHS is often blamed on migrants coming to the UK to use NHS services ‘fraudulently’. This is false.
Responsibility for the crisis in the NHS lies with the governments since 2010, responsible for 14 years of underfunding, cuts to services and outsourcing to private companies. This has led to a situation where the NHS has been severely undermined.
Without migrant health and care workers, be they consultants or auxiliary staff, the NHS and social care would cease to function: one in five NHS workers are non-UK nationals, including 35% of doctors. Migrants are not a threat to the NHS, they hold it together while being double charged for their own access to health care, via the health surcharges levied in advance, and the taxes they pay.
The idea that migrants and undocumented people use the NHS fraudulently is a right-wing myth: the last government’s ‘Hostile Environment’ ended universal access to healthcare, free at the point of need, for over a million people in the UK, including 215,000 children, who do not have access to free health care.
Although the use of GPs and emergency care in A&E is free of charge, ongoing treatment is heavily charged. People who, under the hostile legislation, can’t prove their right to free care, pay 150% of NHS prices for most other hospital or mental health care, even in life-threatening emergencies. Additionally, 60% of migrant charges are aimed at women: mothers are charged £7500 for having a baby, and up to £15,000 for more complex delivery if things go wrong. Keep Our NHS Public condemns charges to migrants for NHS care as another example of racism and scapegoating being fuelled from the very top.
We condemn the role of the previous government, and right-wing politicians and media, in encouraging the scenes we are seeing today: violent mobs at mosques, outside the offices of immigration lawyers, attacks on hotels housing asylum seekers and random racist violence to individuals and families.
We encourage our members and supporters to oppose racist and Islamophobic threats and to join local counter-protests and anti-fascist initiatives where possible. As Keep Our NHS Public campaigns to restore an NHS that is publicly funded and provided, and free for everyone and anyone who needs it, we urge everyone to remember that the fight for the NHS includes the fight against racism and Islamophobia.
Keep Our NHS Public
Thanks to KONP for your excellent statement.