John Pilger’s passionate film addresses threats to the NHS, from the burgeoning presence of private healthcare companies to the invasion of bureaucrats
Veteran campaigning reporter John Pilger makes no apology for returning to the subject of the National Health Service, and nor should he. The NHS could become Britain’s Gazprom: a gigantic public resource that could so easily be carved up to make corporate oligarchs even richer than they are already.
These are points that have been made by Michael Moore’s Sicko (2007) and Ken Loach’s The Spirit of ’45 (2013), but Pilger brings us more up to date. He takes us through the familiar history, from the founding of the NHS in 1948, through to the 70s, as a new generation of Thatcherite rightists (such as Oliver Letwin and John Redwood) took on health care with a new objective – privatise by stealth. The complaisant Blair government brought in private finance initiatives,...
Veteran campaigning reporter John Pilger makes no apology for returning to the subject of the National Health Service, and nor should he. The NHS could become Britain’s Gazprom: a gigantic public resource that could so easily be carved up to make corporate oligarchs even richer than they are already.
These are points that have been made by Michael Moore’s Sicko (2007) and Ken Loach’s The Spirit of ’45 (2013), but Pilger brings us more up to date. He takes us through the familiar history, from the founding of the NHS in 1948, through to the 70s, as a new generation of Thatcherite rightists (such as Oliver Letwin and John Redwood) took on health care with a new objective – privatise by stealth. The complaisant Blair government brought in private finance initiatives,...
- 11/28/2019
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Glenda Jackson: Actress and former Labour MP. Two-time Oscar winner and former Labour MP Glenda Jackson returns to acting Two-time Best Actress Academy Award winner Glenda Jackson set aside her acting career after becoming a Labour Party MP in 1992. Four years ago, Jackson, who represented the Greater London constituency of Hampstead and Highgate, announced that she would stand down the 2015 general election – which, somewhat controversially, was won by right-wing prime minister David Cameron's Conservative party.[1] The silver lining: following a two-decade-plus break, Glenda Jackson is returning to acting. Now, Jackson isn't – for the time being – returning to acting in front of the camera. The 79-year-old is to be featured in the Radio 4 series Emile Zola: Blood, Sex and Money, described on their website as a “mash-up” adaptation of 20 Emile Zola novels collectively known as "Les Rougon-Macquart."[2] Part 1 of the three-part Radio 4 series will be broadcast daily during an...
- 7/2/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Local councils are cowed by cuts and the opposition too cautious: only bold action can salvage investment for growth
Councils have been remarkably silent about the savagery of the cuts they have sustained. At last, the supine Sir Merrick Cockell, Conservative leader of the Local Government Association, is speaking out as a Guardian survey reveals the extent of the damage inflicted. Councils are losing one-third of their funding and, he says, so far this is only "the calm before the storm" – a storm sweeping away more Tory councils each May.
Visiting several Labour city council leaders, I found them politically conflicted: should they blast the government or boast of how well they are managing in hard times? This is odd, as the government rains down the heaviest cuts on the poorest (Labour) areas: Liverpool is the worst affected while Oliver Letwin's Dorset is the least. I was surprised by...
Councils have been remarkably silent about the savagery of the cuts they have sustained. At last, the supine Sir Merrick Cockell, Conservative leader of the Local Government Association, is speaking out as a Guardian survey reveals the extent of the damage inflicted. Councils are losing one-third of their funding and, he says, so far this is only "the calm before the storm" – a storm sweeping away more Tory councils each May.
Visiting several Labour city council leaders, I found them politically conflicted: should they blast the government or boast of how well they are managing in hard times? This is odd, as the government rains down the heaviest cuts on the poorest (Labour) areas: Liverpool is the worst affected while Oliver Letwin's Dorset is the least. I was surprised by...
- 3/26/2013
- by Polly Toynbee
- The Guardian - Film News
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