The NHS was ‘a piece of real socialism’ so perhaps it isn’t such a bad thing - Yorkshire Post Letters

In his letter (The Yorkshire Post, July 5) Gordon Lawrence attempts to say why he thinks socialism is a bad thing, citing extreme examples of how it has panned out in other parts of the world.

However, comparing socialist values in the UK to those in far-flung corners of the globe, with very different cultures and histories, is really not a very relevant way to make a point. As we celebrate 75 years of the NHS, it is worth remembering that Aneurin Bevan called it “a piece of real socialism”.

Our nation is in a lamentable state after 13 years of Conservative government. We’ve been lumbered with a rapid succession of Prime Ministers who are demonstrably unfit for the job.

Food, shelter, water, warmth are essentials, not luxuries, and we only have to see what is happening with water and energy to realise that privatisation of such fundamental utilities has been an abysmal failure.

It is an absolute disgrace that keeping warm is a financial struggle for many and that our rivers and coasts are awash with raw sewage, while shareholders and management continue to profit from services that were previously in public ownership.

But I did have a chuckle over Mr Lawrence's comment that I am “flying with all the cuckoos” - a cuckoo is a bird that takes advantage of something built by someone else, in other words, exploiting another bird's hard work for its own personal gain. Quite the opposite view to mine, but a rather apt metaphor for privatisation…