Friday, August 14, 2009

Atlantic a-twitter over NHS

A transatlantic war of words embroiled the Prime Minister yesterday as left and right battled over the merits of the NHS.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah declared their support for the service on the Downing Street twitter feed.

In three postings yesterday Mr Brown declared: "NHS often makes the difference between pain and comfort, despair and hope, life and death. Thanks for always being there."

A "tweet" apparently from his wife Sarah added: "welovetheNHS - more than words can say".

Health secretary Andy Burnham weighed in: "Over the moon about strong support for NHS - an institution I will defend to my dying day, 2nd only to Everton FC."

The interventions were thought to have come as American lobbyists stepped up the campaign against President Obama's health reforms, accusing him of trying to create a US NHS.

Americans are being told that Britain rations treatment, especially for the elderly.

Today the Independent talks to one British campaigner who has helped fuel the US campaigns.

Like TV star Jade Goody, Katie Brickell was diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer before she became eligible for the smear testing programme.

Now 26, she agreed to record a video saying she had been "badly let down" by the NHS.

She told her US audience: "I feel that the National Health Service has let me down because I feel that if I had had a smear test when I had asked for one originally I wouldn't have gone through everything that I have been through now and I feel that them raising the age limit has pretty much signed my death warrant."

Meanwhile Conservative leader David Cameron was forced to distance himself from right-wing Euro-MP Daniel Hannan who said he would not wish the NHS "on anyone". Mr Cameron said the NHS was valuable to Britain.

In reply, British and US campaigners are pointing out that the American system denies healthcare to "millions".

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