NHS: Lords can’t miss the media buzz

The crucial Lords vote that could decide the future of our NHS is just hours away. We’re making sure the Lords can’t forget that hundreds of thousands of 38 Degrees members are opposed to these changes. Lords read the papers and use Twitter and Facebook so we need to make sure that wherever they look before this crucial vote they can’t miss the massive public opposition to these changes.

Thanks to our huge people-powered petition to the Lords, the media is buzzing with stories about the dangerous NHS changes and the campaign to protect the future of our NHS. The Guardian and The Telegraph report that 38 Degrees’ huge petition is now at nearly 150,000 and our campaign has featured on TV and radio.

Sky News reported on 38 Degrees members racking up a huge petition to send a clear message to the Lords. They said,

“Campaign group 38 Degrees has launched a petition to coincide with the debate. It had won the support of 131,868 signatories by 10am on Wednesday.”

The BBC report on the Lords vote and mention 38 Degrees’ legal advice as a key part of the campaign against the goverment’s NHS reforms:

“Critics say this still represents a weakening of the duty. In fact, the campaign group 38 Degrees paid for legal experts to look at the issue and concluded the health secretary was free to “wash his hands” of the NHS.”

Twitter users are also talking like crazy about 38 Degrees. Here’s what members have been tweeting:

The government are clearly worried that the amendment will pass and the Bill delayed. The Telegraph says that a knife edge vote is expected and mentions that,

“an instant petition launched by the 38 Degrees lobby group raised more than 80,000 signatures in less than a day urging peers to back the Owen plan.”