This demonstration is a protest against: NHS services being threatened by the Government’s austerity measures; private companies gaining a greater foothold in the NHS; years of pay restraints with salaries reduced by 14% in real terms since 2010, and hospital and community service closures.

John Hannett – Usdaw General Secretary says: “Our National Health Service is at breaking point. Under the Tories the NHS and social care are underfunded and understaffed. Patients are waiting for hours in overcrowded A&Es and waiting lists have soared. We are calling for the NHS and social care to get the funding they need. Conservative demands for yet more austerity in the NHS represent a real risk to the safety of patients and the service.

“The NHS is Britain’s single greatest achievement, delivered by a Labour Government. We cannot allow it to be undermined and ultimately destroyed. As Aneurin Bevan, the father of our health service, once said, ‘the NHS will last as long as there are folk with the faith to fight for it’. Tomorrow’s march is an important part of that fightback.”

Labour’s NHS Campaign: http://www.labour.org.uk/index.php/nhs-campaign

Our NHS Demonstration: https://www.ournhs.info/

Notes for editors:

Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fourth biggest and the fastest growing trade union with over 440,000 members. Membership has increased by more than 17% in the last five years and by nearly a third in the last decade. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the Union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.

For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/new... and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion