Forward to the People’s Assembly

The Coalition of Resistance National Council met today at the Unite headquarters.

About 40 delegates from local anti-cuts groups and campaigns came together to hear reports from Keep Our NHS Public and from the COR officers group. The Save London’s NHS, week of action begins tomorrow. The campaign kicks off with a press conference at the House of Commons bringing together representatives of the Lewisham, Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, Kingston and Islington hospitals campaigns. Speakers include: Dr. Louise Irvine of Save Lewisham Hospital; Dr. Onkar Sahota, London Assembly Member for Ealing and Hillingdon and Save Our Hospitals Ealing; Julie Reay, Kingston Hospital UNISON; Shirley Franklin, Defend the Whittington Hospital Coalition; Dr. John Lister, from London Health Emergency; and Andy Slaughter, MP for Hammersmith (Labour) and secretary of Save Hammersmith & Fulham Hospitals.

This will be followed by a Week of Action involving meetings, protests and vigils outside London hospitals faced with imminent threats to their A&E and maternity units. Details are constantly being updated but at present the actions include:

– a public meeting on 12 February in defence of Whittingdon hospital [Archway Methodist Hall, 7.30 pm, with MPs Jeremy Corbyn, David Lammy and Frank Dobson. For the latest on the threat to the hospital, see the Defend Whittington Hospital website. Also sign the petition here].

– a rally on 15 February in Lewisham in protest at the recent decision by the Secretary of State for Health to downgrade the hospital’s A&E and maternity services [at the war memorial opposite Lewisham Hospital, at 1pm. Speakers include Lewisham’s Mayor, Steve Bullock, trade unionists and community activists. There is also another event, “The Fight Goes On,” a demonstration outside Lewisham Shopping Centre at 1pm on Saturday February 16].

– the presentation on 14 February of ‘We Love Our NHS’ Valentine’s cards at the Department of Health [by Save Our Hospitals Ealing campaigners. Get in touch here].

– simultaneous rallies in Hammersmith and Ealing on 16 February in protest at NHS North West London’s plans to downgrade A&E, maternity and other services at Charing Cross, Hammersmith and Ealing hospitals [with both beginning at 12 noon — the Ealing event is at Ealing Broadway shopping centre, and is organised by the Save Our Hospitals Ealing campaign, and the Hammersmith event is organised by Save Our Hospitals Hammersmith and Fulham, and takes place in Lyric Square, King Street. Hammersmith. See the Save Our Hospitals website here, and the Facebook page].

– a demonstration on 16 February in Kingston in protests at NHS South West London’s plans to close two out of five of the A&Es and maternity units serving the area [beginning at 12 noon, organised by Kingston Save Our Hospitals, involving a march from Norbiton Station to Kingston Guildhall. See the Facebook page here, and the website here].

The People’s Assembly launch was extremely successful and COR officer John Rees outlined the steps necessary to make the Assembly a success and reported a number of new affiliations including Unison nationally. To sign up to the Assembly please visit the links here:

• Add your support for the People’s Assembly Against Austerity
• Model Resolution in support of the People’s Assembly
• People’s Assembly launched in Guardian by trade union leaders, MPs, campaigns and cultural figures

For the COR European working group Andrew Burgin reported that there would also be a European Assembly Against Austerity on the Sunday 23rd June bringing activists from across Europe to discuss co-ordinating action against austerity.