Trip to London, 1 November 2006

Worthing KONP took a coach up to the TUC-organised national lobby of Parliament on 1st November over the government's proposed NHS cuts. A group of staff and the public from Worthing and Southlands made the trip up, carrying our specially-made banner "Worthing and Southlands - Not For Sale!". The day was a great success. Although we didnt feel we needed to lobby our own MPs who have been active with their KWASH campaign, we joined a march against hospital closures and privatisation alongside campaigners and NHS workers from other parts of the country, including in our region people from Crawley, Epsom and Guildford among others. The march and lobby ended with a rally at Westminster Central Hall with mainly trade union speakers getting across lots of good background info on just why the government is threatening the future of Worthing & Southlands and at least 60 other hospitals around the UK. We learned a lot to apply to Worthing, and made good links with other campaigners. A national demonstration is planned for early in 2007.