Aug 1st, 2013

Lewisham victory: 38 Degrees in the papers

By [email protected]

We’re in the paper! And not just one paper – we’re in lots. Here’s a selection of cuttings and quotes about yesterday’s court victory over Jeremy Hunt.

The Guardian:

The Mirror!:

The Independent:

The Telegraph:

Rosa Curling, solicitor at Leigh Day (the firm which took Jeremy Hunt to court), said:

“This wonderful victory would not have been possible without the amazing support of those who have campaigned for Lewisham Hospital.

Motivated by injustice, the public support for Lewisham Hospital has been extraordinary. Today the court ruled that that the decision taken by Jeremy Hunt to downgrade and close many of the hospital’s services was wrong and unlawful.

It confirms that the Secretary of State cannot respond to the financial difficulties caused by the Department of Health’s damaging PFI policy, by imposing cuts on NHS services from above.

This judgment should serve as a warning to the government that if they try to do this again, local communicators will fight back to ensure their healthcare services remain in place.”

Joan Ruddock, MP for Lewisham, said this:

“Lewisham’s Labour MP, Joan Ruddock, told The Independent: “This is the most significant community based battle that has ever succeeded in my political life. To take on the government in the high court, to win, is exceptional. We had a demo which tuned out 25,000 people for a local cause.”

And finally, Dr Louise Irvine, Chair of the Save Lewisham Hospital campaign, had this to say:

“We’re delighted by the judgment and the support we’ve got from across the country, especially from 38 Degrees members who donated to make today’s victory possible and helped give us the confidence to stand up to Jeremy Hunt in court.”

38 Degrees members contributed to something spectacular yesterday – and we pulled it off because 6,710 of us chipped in to fund the court case. People power 1 – 0 Jeremy Hunt.