Midwife to vote Green

I received this letter of support from a midwife who has decided to vote Green:

“I have read through the [Green Party Animal manifesto] and am so pleased with the Green Party viewpoint as it completely echoes my own. As a member of Compassion in World Farming, I too am strongly opposed to intensive factory farming and welcome CCTV cameras in slaughterhouses.

 I’m an NHS midwife, currently pregnant myself with my first child and I fear what David Cameron and the Conservative government would do with the NHS I love and support so dearly. I also worry that it would be difficult for me financially to return to the job I love after having my baby as childcare costs have soared. Working within the NHS, I have seen the damage done over the last 5 years by the Government. We have nothing left. We have no resources, no funding. We are making cuts to services and provisions in every area. We have had to fight for a measely 1% increase to our pay (which still has yet to come through). None of us wanted to strike. It’s not who we are as a group. And we were branded “selfish” by the PM for doing so whilst he and his fellow MP’s enjoyed their expenses and pay rises.

 I used to be a Labour voter, but have no faith in Ed Milliband as a leader. Last election, my husband voted Lib Dem, thinking that if we could just get a different party into power then it could make a change, and it got us no-where. They became little more the numbers and puppets.

 This election, for the first time I have decided to vote Green. I agree with your policies, I trust that you have the best interest of the NHS at heart (i.e. You won’t privatise it) and you will do the best by all the people living in Britain.

Most of all Daniel, you took the time to write to me twice, after I reached out and contacted you. That’s twice more than the Conservative and Labour candidates for this constituency. I know now who cares the most about the concerns of the people living in Brentford & Isleworth. “

Bad Pharma?

I  have just finished reading Bad Pharma by Ben Goldacre.  In the book Ben argues that we don’t have the best possible drugs  because of failings of researchers, regulators and the drug companies.  Ben is a doctor and he obviously knows this topic very well.

He shows that many trial results are simply not published, and this means that we don’t know exactly how well drugs do, because bad results are suppressed.   He is very keen to set up a Register of all trials to ensure that all results are published.  He is also critical of the regulators, who he feels are too close to the industry.  He is also complains about the design of trials.   New drugs are compared to old drugs that don’t work very well rather than the best in the field or drugs are tested on young, relatively healthy patients who don’t have the complications you might find with more elderly patients in the real world.

He also argues that the drug companies spend too much money trying to influence doctors to prescribe their drugs.

I found myself agreeing with almost all of Ben’s points.  Apparently so do some of the drugs companies and I was pleased to read that GSK had signed up to making all clinical trial data available within a year of completion of the trial.

Now I have a better understanding of this area I will follow future developments with interest.

A failure of the Private Sector

G4S were supposed to provide all the security for the Olympics, but in the end it was left to the government to provide troops to cover a shortfall of numbers.  I went to several events and the soldiers on duty were the politest and most efficient security guards I have ever seen!

Of course, G4S’s incompetence is exceptional but it does raise important questions about using the Private Sector to carry out tasks traditionally carried out in the Public Sector.

A Private Sector company must focus its own profit goals; a Public Sector organisation can simply focus on providing the best service possible with the money available.  Private Sector companies need to pay for lobby consultants to chum up with politicians.  They need to pay for PR consultants to manage the press.

Private Sector efficiency savings often mean attacking worker’s benefits and eroding the service provided.

And if things go wrong the Private Sector will always have the government to pick up the pieces.  In extremis a Private Sector company can go into receivership, not really an option for a National Government.

So let us think again about the privatisation of the police, prison services and guarding our borders.

Grow Heathrow

I cycled to Uxbridge County court on Thursday, 17th November, 2012 to support the grass roots action group Transition Heathrow.  They were threatened with conviction from Grow Heathrow, a derelict piece of land that they are turning into a thriving and productive resource, with new raised beds in the greenhouse, stoves for heating water as well as finding time to grow vegetables and fix bikes. 

I understand Transition Heathrow have the support of the council and their MP.  They needed to remove 30 tonnes of rubbish before they could start and as the land is classified as agricultural there is no chance of development.  I was pleased to hear that they have been granted a reprieve.  Good luck to them in the future!

Making tea at Uxbridge County Court

Green choices are not a chore!

Eighteen months ago I decided to try and do something to reduce my impact on the environment. So I brought a Brompton folding bicycle and started cycling to Chiswick Park Tube Station from where I caught the tube instead of driving.

It took a while to get used to the change in routine, and at first I was worried that I might have my bicycle stolen, or be late for work. Now, I don’t worry about that, and have found that I have loads to time to rest and read. I even joined the local library and started reading for the first time for a long time.

The journey is a bit longer than my drive but I think it is worth it.