British workers to step up protests against health law

Britain’s health workers have pledged to continue the fight against the coalition government’s plans to wreck the National Health Service (NHS), media reports said. The pledge came as the government's flagship Health and Social Care Bill became law after it passed its final parliamentary hurdle on Tuesday night, British media reported. Members of Parliament (MPs) voted against a Labour party’s attempt to delay final consideration of the legislation until the publication of the internal Risk Register. NHS staff and campaigners held a one-minute silence before a Commons debate on the Health and Social Care Bill to mark the death of the health service as Britons know it. They brandished placards that read: "The Liberal Democrat betrayal of the NHS will not be forgotten" and chanted: "Never trust the Tories with the NHS. Nurse Monica Hirst spoke of a "drop in morale" with many hard-working staff worried that future cuts and sell-offs could cost them their jobs. "The most vulnerable members of society, including the disabled, will be the ones who suffer the most from these changes," she said. She was backed up by a Unison survey that revealed soaring stress levels among NHS staff. Unison senior national officer Sara Gorton warned the coalition that the "fight is far from over" with workers set to step up their anti-privatization campaign. "We will not stand back and allow our NHS to be taken over by agenda-driven private companies and those with the money to jump queues," she said. "It's a scandal that a Bill nobody supports can be pushed through regardless. We will continue to hold the government to account as they attempt to carry out changes." Unison general secretary Dave Prentis added the union will not stop fighting the "pernicious Bill."