Which way will they vote? This Wednesday the House of Lords makes a choice. They could wave through the government’s dangerous NHS plans. Or they could insist on proper scrutiny and big changes to protect our health service.
The press say it's on a knife edge. It could come down to one or two votes. [1] Together we can help tip the balance. If we can prove that the public wants Lansley’s plans put under the microscope, we can convince wavering Lords and Baronesses to stand up to the government and vote the right way.
Thousands of us have written personally to Lords and Baronesses. We know our message is starting to get through. Now let’s show wavering Lords just how many of us want them to vote to protect our NHS - by building a huge, people powered petition.
The vote is on Wednesday afternoon, and we'll need to deliver the petition just before it starts. Please add your name now:
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/message-to-lords
An influential Lord, David Owen, has announced he will call a vote to put Lansley's NHS plan under the microscope, by creating a special 'select committee'. [2] The committee would investigate key concerns of ours - like scrapping of the Secretary of State's "duty to provide" health services. We can win this vote! And if we do, it will be a massive boost to our chances of stopping dangerous changes to the NHS being forced through.
The government doesn’t want this to happen. They're doing all they can to pressure Lords to toe the line. [3] We can outweigh that pressure with people power. Let's prove to the Lords that the government doesn't speak for us. We never voted for this dangerous NHS plan and we can show our support for Lords’ efforts to stop it.
There's a lot at stake here. We all rely on the NHS to look after us and to look after our loved ones. We know that if the government's plans go through unchanged, we could lose our health service forever. The House of Lords could be our best hope of protecting our health service for future generations.
Thousands of 38 Degrees members have sent personal emails to Lords and Baronesses, telling them why the NHS matters so much. Now let's back that up with big numbers. Let's build a huge petition to the Lords to show them how many of us support efforts to protect the health service.
