Please ask Craig Whittaker MP to vote against radioactive waste burial

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Update:

One of the last  decisions of the 2010-2015 Parliament, the Coalition government swiftly passed the Infrastructure Planning (Radioactive Waste Geological Disposal Facilities) Order 2015 with no debate in the House of Commons. This Order extends the Planning Act 2008 to cover nuclear waste disposal.

Over 300 MPs failed to vote. Among those were 246 Labour MPs, 57 Conservatives and 18 Liberal Democrats. The parliamentary record does not show whether they abstained or did not turn up.

241 Conservatives voted in favour – including Calder Valley MP Craig Whittaker, along with 30 Lib Dems, 1 Labour (Barry Sheerman, Huddersfield), 3 DUP and 1 UKIP.

The original post starts here

Parliament is considering rapid legislation that would remove the right of County Councils to object to burying radioactive waste underground, potentially at levels where water circulates.

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If you’re coming on a Valentines date with Calderdale Royal Hospital – here’s the plan

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Ok Valentines Day Calderdale Royal Hospital lovebombers – these are the plans for our date to show the love for all staff working in Calderdale Royal Hospital (CRH), from 10am-midday Saturday 14 Feb.

This is the space and the fence for the lovebomb – safely on the fenced grassy patch next to the bus stop in front of CRH on the main Halifax-Huddersfield road. So we are safely separate from all the traffic. Continue reading →

All you need is love – come on a Valentine’s date with Calderdale Royal Hospital

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As part of a nationwide Call 999 for the NHS Day of Action, Halifax mum Katherine Horner is inviting everyone to a Valentine’s Day NHS love in outside Calderdale Royal Hospital on the main Halifax to Huddersfield road from 10am to midday.

Please bring paper lovehearts and messages of support for Calderdale Royal Hospital NHS staff, who are struggling to keep patient care from suffering from the cuts and sell offs that have so badly destabilised our hospitals Trust. Continue reading →

People’s Commission Report is whitewash – not what the public wanted, protesters tell Councillors

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Before this evening’s Calderdale Council meeting on the People’s Commission Report,  two oddly assorted demonstrations took place on the Halifax Town Hall steps.

Calderdale 38 Degrees NHS campaigners huddled together with a placard proclaiming the People’s Commission as whitewash – not what the public wanted.

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Red herring award for People’s Commission Report

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The so-called People’s Commission was meant to identify and present the views of the people of Calderdale about the kind of future NHS and social care in the area that will be best for us.

It has now published its Report, which Calderdale Council will discuss on 9th February at 6pm in Halifax Town Hall.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating – so what does the Report propose?

The Report gets the Plain Speaker red herring award for misleading the public. Continue reading →

What’s really causing the A&E crisis

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Here’s an analysis by ‘Our NHS’ editor Caroline Molloy.

Her conclusion? The stealth NHS privatisation that the Health and Social Care Act 2012 has sped up means that cheap and easy elective procedures from hip operations to removing skin tags are now privatised, leaving the costly and difficult acute and emergency services with the NHS – but without the cross-subsidy from elective operations to pay for them. NHS hospitals are now forced to provide the costly services that private health care companies don’t want, on unsustainably low tariffs (or rates of payment) from NHS England.

Here’s Caroline Molloy’s article: What’s really causing the NHS crisis.

 

Calderdale NHS bosses’ new plan for August decision on community health services sell off – Campaigners demand public consultation now

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Yesterday a number of Save Calderdale Royal Hospital campaigners attended Calderdale Council’s Adults Health and Social Care Scrutiny Panel, to find out what Calderdale NHS commissioners are planning for Phase 1 of the Right Care Right Place Right Time NHS shake up (which they’ve re-branded as Care Closer to Home.)

After the meeting, those of us who attended were clear that the Scrutiny Panel must use its powers now to stop the the implementation of Phase 1 Care Closer to Home and tell the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to formally consult the public on the Care Closer to Home proposals.

This is what happened Continue reading →

Save Calderdale Hospital Campaigners welcome Cllr Baines’ denunciation of NHS privatisation

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Save Calderdale Royal Hospital campaigners are glad to find from Cllr Stephen Baine’s Talking Politics column in the 22nd Jan Halifax Courier, that he opposes NHS privatisation.

Cllr Baines criticises Labour’s Andy Burnham for his 2009 decision to offer Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Huntingdon for sale both to NHS organisations and to the private sector.

This was the first time that private companies had been invited to bid to take over and run a large NHS hospital. Continue reading →

Its our Councillors’ job to Save Calderdale & Kirklees NHS – please email them now

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Save Calderdale Royal Hospital campaign is calling on Calderdale and Kirklees Councillors to do their job of protecting our local NHS from damage.

If you want your Councillors to do their job of protecting our local NHS, please consider getting in touch with them to tell them about this. On this webpage you’ll find template emails to send to Councillors as well as live links to Councillors’ email addresses.

Councillors have the power – and the duty to use that power – to:

  • tell the Clinical Commissioning Groups to formally consult the public NOW on the significant changes to Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS that they are carrying out
  • ask the Secretary of State to stop proposed changes that will damage our local NHS

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More the merrier – come along to Hebden Bridge “Bin the Infrastructure Bill” demo, 11am Sunday 18 Jan

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Updated 18 Jan Braving the snow, several members of the public turned out for the “Bin the Infrastructure Bill” demo this morning in St George’s Square, Hebden Bridge. The demo was organised by anti-fracking activist Helen Chuntso.

Demonstrators – including me – were calling on Craig Whittaker MP to vote for vital amendments to the Infrastructure Bill, that Green MP Caroline Lucas and LibDem MP Norman Baker are putting forward. (More info below about the amendments.) Continue reading →