"Watch out, Butch, the ceiling's falling down!" Arturo yelled. When I jumped, he let out a chuckle: "
April Fool!"
I had forgotten it was April Fool's Day! One look at the papers and a half hour listening to the BBC Radio 4 programme 'Today' made it obvious that there were more than a few real April Fools right here in Downing Street.
For instance, yesterday morning, whilst I was dozing, I heard the dulcet tones of
'Silent Man' Iain Duncan Smith - Work & Pensions Secretary. Only he wasn't quite so silent. He was waxing eloquent about how he could
live off £53 a week 'if I had to'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21993453
According to my reckoning that's £7.57 a day. Ummmm! Out of that he would have to pay for rent, food and travel! Let's just suppose he's happy using
Shanks's pony, the cost of shoe repairs doesn't come cheap! Even
Boris's Bikes cost £2 for a day! Sandwiches and tea are expensive! Electricity for shaving that smooth chin and pate would soon mount up!
£7.57 a day!! I don't think so,
'Silent Man' Iain Duncan Smith! Perhaps, you'd be better to
keep schtum.
But that wasn't the only madness on the great day for practical jokes, no siree! There was an even better one - that is if you like
Gallows' Humour.
The joke is that April 1st heralded the much vaunted changes to the
NHS! But, it seems no one was celebrating, let alone laughing! An article in
The Independent by
Owen Jones said it all under the headline:
Farewell to the NHS, 1948-2013: a dear and trusted friend finally murdered by Tory ideologues : This week's 'reforms' of a treasured institution - by people who came to power promising not to mess with it - is yet another sickening assault on the poor by the rich
He wrote:
Nothing is more gut-wrenching than watching a close friend dying in front of you. And I mean beyond close: a friend who brought you into the world, helped raise you, and was there whenever you were most desperately in need. So, spare a moment for our National Health Service. Time of death: midnight, 1st April 2013. Cause of death: murder.
And 'murder' it sure is! For the body of the NHS is not likely to rise again. Owen Jones continued:
From today, strategic health authorities and primary care trusts are formally abolished. Some £60bn of the NHS budget is now in the hands of clinical commissioning groups, supposedly run by GPs. This is a sham, though one which turns local doctors into human shields for the privatisers. In reality, the vast majority of GPs will keep on doing what they do already – looking after patients – while commissioning will be managed by private companies.
He exposed the cynical disemboweling of the once treasured NHS, quoting from several doctors who are appalled at what is happening!
Owen Jones' article went on:
The great sell-off of our NHS is already well under way. Virgin Care now run more than 100 NHS services across the country, from radiology departments to GP clinics. Last year, they were given a £100m contract to run services in Surrey, and a £130m contract to run key NHS services for young people in Devon. Not that you’d know, of course: services run by the profiteering vultures circling ahead operate under the NHS logo, hiding privatisation from public view.
The final paragraph was poignant:
It was Nye Bevan ... who said “The NHS will last as long as there are folk left with the faith to fight for it”. It is with huge regret that I must say that – however much faith we have – we did not fight to save it. The NHS has been killed, murdered, assassinated by a Tory government. The question now is – do we have enough faith to bring it back to life?
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/farewell-to-the-nhs-19482013-a-dear-and-trusted-friend-finally-murdered-by-tory-ideologues-8555503.html
So there you have it, dear friends! A right old mess on April 1 2013. The 'Silent Man' blowing his mouth off without engaging his brain - if he has one! Aneurin Bevan turning in his grave and caring doctors wringing their hands in despair! Some April Fool's joke!!!
And, overseeing this shambles is
'Boy David' Cameron with talk of the 'Big Society'. What a mouth! What a mouth! What a North and South!
Arturo was nodding sagely when he heard the comments. Then he said: "April Fool's Day? Blimey, Butch, it's like that every day here in Downing Street!"
Arturo and I discovered an uneaten Easter egg that had rolled under the Cabinet Office table. Large, round and milk chocolate! Yum Yum!
Bye
