Philip Davies understand THIS: While my dad was dying I had to feed the parking meter
This is by Jason Beattie in The Mirror:
I can only have contempt for the Tory MP Philip Davies.
Despite having made a pledge to speak up for carers in Parliament, he spent 90 minutes effectively killing a bill which would have stopped carers having to pay for hospital parking.
Frankly, it is not worth venting any fury at Davies.
It is barely worth pointing out his lack of compassion or his emotional distance from anyone who may have voted for him.
His sadness is he revels in his unpopularity and stubbornness.
Let him dwell there.
I am writing this because I am fortunate enough to have a platform on which to do so.
But also because my experience is not unique.
It is not just carers who should be exempt from hospital parking charges, everyone should be.
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Davies and his ilk care about nothing or nobody but their own greedy, selfish selves.
Filibusters need to be banned. If Davies wishes to speak out against legislation or vote against it that is his right in a democracy (I don’t agree with what he says but I will defend his right to say it). I do not agree however with the parliamentary equivalent of “I’ll hold my breath until you withdraw this bill”.
Once again an area where the Welsh NHS is leading the way. The majority of hospitals in Wales have done away with parking charges. There are a few with long term contracts with parking firms that are too expensive to abandon, but I was horrified to see charges of £3 an hour in some hospitals in England. UHW in Cardiff which is probably the biggest hospital in Wales is one which still charges and this is at the rate of £2.20 for 4 hours.
The Parking Enforcement officials do patrol and ticket those who haven’t paid or overstay or park in disabled areas without a blue badge etc.
Philip Davies is like many Tory backbenchers, lobby fodder. He is a braying ass with absolutely no empathy for the plight of people in the real world where £6 for a 2 hour visit to a loved one who is an in patient represents a huge lump out of a limited income.
If the patient is in hospital for a 5 day stay then that’s a significant burden. It’s been established that visitors and emotional support is a significant element in many cases helping reduce the length of in-patient care needed. Thus the English NHS are charging visitors for saving it money. This will make no sense to people like Davies who see everything in terms of £ and ‘profit’ particularly for themselves and their privatising pals.
As I understand it most of the English hospitals have privatised their parking provision so most of the profits don’t go into the NHS but into private pockets.
Bear in mind that both Davies and Chope are both Tory slumlords. It was they who filibustered the law intended to protect private tenants from revenge evictions – quelle surprise?
I made that very point myself in another article yesterday – and last year when that filibuster was perpetrated.
I reckon the rules on private members bills need to be changed, to allow a bit of democracy.
Can’t another MP just tell them to shut up, or how about some strong laxatives in the pre debate coffee? Seriously though, when they do this, can’t the opposition appeal to the speaker?
Apparently not. As I suggested before, we need a rule change.