ASTON DEBATES: Health and Immigration
The run up to the general election this year has seen leaders of the most prominent political parties in the UK go back and forth around several issues that will continue to affect the state of our nation.
Two of the most talked about topics are; the state of the NHS and immigration within the UK which were conviniently both covered in the last series of The Aston Debates, held at Aston University in Birmingham.
Organised by Dr Tom Farnhill, a senior lecturer at the university, the debate featured four panelists; David Kirwan, Professor John Tritter, Roger McKenzie and Dr Katherine Tonkiss whom all had expertise within at least one of the two subjects.
Political radio presenter Charmaine Burton facilitated the event and each panelist was given a time limit of 15 minutes to speak.
The general consensus throughout the evening was that the NHS was a system that needed to remain for the people and the re-organisation of the health service has had a terrible affect on those who need it the most.
Whilst David Kirwan likened the NHS to a bottomless pit at the beginning of the debate, Professor Tritar argued that the distrubution of funds into various drugs is a form of corruption. Stating that the distribution of health is not equal, he stirred up the pot by asking why a patient with cancer is more important than a patient without, causing a few heated responses from audience members.
Roger McKenzie, assistant general secretary of UNISON argued that we need to prioritise our public services and the quality shouldn’t depend on how much money we have but rather our needs.
McKenzie used the treatment of blacks and Asians in the late 60s to illustrate the similarities between that and the treatment of immigrants today. “Immigration is just being used as an excuse for racism and xenophobia”.
Last year work related visas rose by 8% and Dr Tonkiss argued that this idea of migrants taking jobs is a myth. The first panelist to highlight that she understands the current state of immigration is not ok, Tonkiss makes a point of explaining that we need to understand borders are social constructs.
Discussions around the new Health Surcharge scheme resulted in mixed response. A majority of the audience members think that this is a resonable scheme though they do not believe this will have much affect on immigration control.
The debate was insightful and interesting as though it may not be apparent, the issues of health and immigration within the UK do go hand in hand. With the election just around the corner, this conversation will continue to be prevalent as people discuss the two of the most popular topics.
To explore live and more detailed coverage of the debate click here.
