Martin Shaw seatonmatters.org

More expensive junk mail from the party that sabotaged Seaton Hospital

I’m feeling rather cross about this. Royal Mail have delivered yet another lavish piece of propaganda from the party that sabotaged Seaton Hospital. It’s filed in my special place for them (pictured) but before I add it to my recycling, a reminder of the Conservatives’ 5-point plan for Seaton Hospital:

1. Hand over the hospital – which Seaton people paid for – to a property company, NHS Property Services, which charges market rates to use it (2016).
2. Switch Seaton’s beds to Sidmouth to save the skin of Tory MP Hugo Swire, then use the Tory majority on the Scrutiny Committee to defeat our attempt to block the decision (2017)
3. Let NHS Property Services turn down Seaton’s proposals to use the empty space because we can’t afford to pay market rates to use our own hospital (2020).
4. Accuse anyone who expresses fears for the hospital of scaremongering – yes, that’s what they did to me when I stood for re-election (2021).
5. Allow the NHS to hand back the underused wing to NHS Property Services for disposal (2023).

Our Liberal Democrat MP, Richard Foord, who we elected in last year’s by-election, hasn’t got the big money backing that the Tories are using to pay for this propaganda.

Richard is doing a brilliant job supporting Seaton Hospital. I’m not a Lib Dem, but I think we need to raise some funds for him to compete with this corporate propaganda.

The local community’s campaign to save the threatened wing of Seaton Hospital takes another step forward this Saturday:

1. Seven local churches will be ringing their bells to mark the beginning of a day of action  

• Seaton St Gregory (pictured below): a bell will be slowly tolled from 9 am; Beer St. Michael, Axmouth St. Michael, Musbury St Michael, Colyford St Michael, Colyton St. Andrew (from 10.00), St. Winifred’s Branscombe – nonconformist churches are also supporting but they don’t have bells! The organiser of this is Rev Barry Brewer barrybrewer29@gmail.com

2. Hospital supporters will meet in the main centres to leaflet shoppers and collect signatures (in Seaton we’ll have a loudhailer and there will be speeches at the start)

• in Seaton (outside Tramway), Beer (Mariners Hall) and Colyton (Market Square)

3. Supporters have distributed 9,000 leaflets in all the towns and villages of the local area in the last 3 days (see attached artwork).

4. Petition forms are being widely circulated & everyone is signing, and two online petitions have already gathered over 1500 signatures between them.

5. The campaign is greatly heartened by the support of the Devon Health Scrutiny last Thursday and in the parliamentary debate obtained by our MP, Richard Foord, on Monday. 

6. We believe the Integrated Care Board and NHS Property Services must now listen to our case. Seaton paid 100 per cent of the threatened wing and we need it to be used for local health provision without paying exorbitant rents.

MARTIN SHAW / 07972 760254

Acting secretary, Seaton Hospital Steering Committee

Noun: vulgar description of bat excrement

Adjective: slang meaning  very foolish or strange in a way that is hard to understand; insane or crazy.

So not an expression you would expect a Foreign Secretary to use to describe government policy.

But wait…….

James Cleverly refuses to deny he called Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda scheme ‘batshit’

www.independent.co.uk (Extract)

James Cleverly has repeatedly refused to deny that he called Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda deportation plan “batshit”.

The new home secretary said he “doesn’t remember” describing the scheme that way after Yvette Cooper claimed he did during a grilling in the House of Commons…..

Not to be confused with:

Bullshit: slang something that is untrue, complete nonsense, exaggerated or boastful.