Today, for the first time in history, an all-out junior doctors’ strike has hit the UK, with an estimated 125,000 operations and appointments cancelled.
Triggered by a toxic dispute that’s been going on for months, thousands of medics have walked out after a row over pay and conditions.
At its root, the doctors are unhappy with a new contract introduced by British Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt which means they will no longer automatically receive a premium payment when they work at weekends.
This blow will be softened by their basic pay for working on weekdays rising by 13.5%.
However, the junior doctors are striking anyway.
Guess who supports them?
Step forward Larry Sanders, big brother of Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders.
Never mind the hundreds of thousands of pounds of state money spent training each doctor.
Forget that there is only a limited amount of public money available to fund health.
And who cares about tax-paying patients who could die as a result of this dispute?
Doctors’ bank balances are at stake, and Sanders Sr. is angry.
Sanders Sr. is the health spokesman for the Green Party, a left-wing fringe movement in British politics.
In a recent statement on the strike, he said: “The junior doctors are heroes in the fight for a public National Health Service. They do not want to strike; their pride is in their work… The junior doctors deserve our full support. The Green Party offers that. We ask the other Parties to join us.”
He added: “My brother, Sen. Bernie Sanders, is campaigning to create a National Health Program for the US. He is opposed by the same vultures who are feeding on the NHS. Their success costs us in money and in lives.”
The message should be clear to the American public: vote for Sanders, vote for strikes.
