BRING CHARITY HOME AGAIN

For those of you who weren't able to read my Pensioners Platform column article in the October-November 2014 edition of the Torbay Times, here it is in full:-

FROM 14 to 30 September I was on holiday near Chiclana in southern Spain and during my stay I came into contact with a number of British ex-patriots, all of whom retired to Spain some years ago. Without exception, they all agreed that life in Spain for them is very agreeable indeed, and they were unanimous in their praise for the Spanish healthcare system. In fact, several of them remarked on the overall superiority of Spain’s healthcare services when compared to our own NHS.

The Beach near Chiclana, Spain

That got me thinking, so I started to do some research, and this is what I found. Spain’s General Health Law of 1986 was formulated on two principles: 1) it carries out a mandate of the Spanish Constitution whose Articles 43 and 49 establish the right of all citizens to protection of their health, and 2) the Law recognises a right to health services for all citizens and for foreigners resident in Spain.

In many respects, these principles appear to mirror the spirit of our own National Health Service which – judging from near-daily news reports in the British media – seems to be struggling in comparison with Spain’s National Health System. But why should that be? After all, it is well documented that Spain currently has one of the weakest economies in Europe, but here in the United Kingdom we’re constantly being told that our economy is the strongest in the European Union.

Very soon after my return home, I came across a News item which, I believe, goes some way to explaining why our NHS and many of the UK’s other public services are in such a sorry state when compared to some of our European neighbours.

Let me explain: as recently as October 2, Westminster MPs claimed that the government’s decision to cut direct aid to Liberia and Sierra Leone, “May have contributed to the Ebola epidemic” that has claimed more than 3000 lives. In fact, the chair of parliament’s International Development Committee, Sir Malcolm Bruce, is reported to have said the scale of the outbreak, “May well be connected to declining levels of international support for health system improvements” in those two West African nations. Note the word “may” appears twice in the above quotes. That means both comments are based on assumption rather than undisputed fact.

More telling, perhaps, is what else emerged from that same committee’s deliberations. The MPs went-on to criticise the Department for International Development and the EU for failing to address the fact that aid intended for Liberia’s health sector was misappropriated! The committee found that only $3.9 million (£2.4 million) of the $60 million (£37 million) donated was transferred from Liberia’s Finance Ministry to the Health Ministry.

So what happened to the remaining £34.6 million, a substantial amount of which came straight from the UK tax-payers pockets? Regrettably, instead of pursuing that very important question, the committee of MPs decided to make a couple of party political statements. Firstly they said, “In the midst of this devastating epidemic … it is wrong for the UK to cut its support to these two countries by nearly a fifth.” Sir Malcom Bruce then added, “The planned termination of further UK funding to the Liberian health sector is especially unwise.”

While the Ebola outbreak in Africa is both tragic and alarming, shouldn’t our MPs be more concerned with the shortcomings in the UK’s own health care system? For example, they could be asking how many UK pensioners (and others) are going to go cold and hungry this coming winter? And how many will die from the effects of hypothermia and/or malnutrition? Whatever the number, we’re unlikely to be told because it wouldn’t be politically expedient for such statistics to be made public.

But let’s forget political expediency. Surely it’s time to stop acting like a global benefactor and, instead, start putting our own house in order? Up to now, our politicians have been profligate with the taxes we pay, by throwing billions into a black hole in the name of overseas aid. Ominously, some of the recipients of that overseas aid are corrupt and the cash disappears, only to reappear in the form of flashy motor cars and ostentatious mansions.

While all that is going-on, our treasured National Health Service and other vital UK public services creak at the seams and lurch alarmingly towards Third World standards. So, isn’t it about time charity really did begin at home again?