The ongoing public spat between actor Ralf Little and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt took an interesting turn on Wednesday 31 January. The Royle Family star (Little, obviously) wrote an open letter to Hunt asking him to come and publicly debate at an upcoming march.
I would like to leave this city…
Hunt and Little came to blows when the actor criticised an appearance by the Health Secretary on The Andrew Marr Show. Claim and counter-claim have followed, with Little accusing Hunt of using misleading statistics, and both challenging the other to debates. But now, Little has thrown down the gauntlet in an open letter.
Still scratching around in the same old hole…
You can read it in full here. But the thrust of it was:
Dear Secretary of State,
Further to our recent twitter discussions regarding the NHS I would like to follow up on your invitation to meet and debate these vital issues in the public interest…
I will be attending the public demonstration in support of the NHS on the 3rd February organised by The People’s Assembly and Health Campaigns Together.
I would like to extend a sincere invitation to you to attend, and use this platform to demonstrate that you acknowledge the importance of our previous discussion regarding lack of resources, staff and funding for our health service…
I can feel the warning signs running around my mind…
Little continued:
an area I am sure we can both agree on is that patient safety is paramount. However we are now consistently hearing reports of patients dying at home before paramedics arrive, police cars being used to take patients to hospital as there are insufficient ambulances, or that when patients arrive in hospitals they are dying on trolleys in hospital corridors….
I would be grateful for a response addressing these concerns and look forward to meeting in person. I can assure the right honourable gentleman that I will provide all of the evidence required when you “double dared” me for the assertions I have made and would be grateful if he could extend the public and myself the same courtesy.
Yours Sincerely,
Ralf Little
Oh dear.
You’re half the world away
The demonstration Little is going to has been organised by Health Campaigns Together (HCT) and the People’s Assembly. The march on Saturday 3 February begins at 12pm on Gower Street in London. The People’s Assembly claims it is in response to a winter crisis that has “descended into a perpetual year round crisis”.
So, if you want to see Hunt get a ‘Royle’ roasting, come to London on Saturday. But the chances of him showing up are probably slim…
Get Involved!
– Find out more about the People’s Assembly demonstration.
– Read more on Jeremy Hunt’s performance as Health Secretary.
– Support the Keep Our NHS Public campaign.
Featured image via Sam Ford/Flickr and BBC News/YouTube
