BELIEVING that the Government cuts are unnecessary and that there is a far better way to get the country out of its present stark financial predicament than putting many hundreds of thousands of people, both public and private, out of work, yet expecting the economy to grow, a number of anti-cuts groups have sprung up around Great Britain.

Gloucestershire is no exception; groups have been formed in this county, probably the largest being "Stroud Against the Cuts."    They have held a number of meetings and demonstrations, etc.  In one, a particularly large number of people marched through the town to hold a rally at the Subscription Rooms, a couple of weeks ago.

The present campaign is to stop all local hospitals in Gloucestershire from being removed from NHS control and put into the hands of an unelected organisation (Social Enterprise) being the first irretrievable step towards privatisation, which could come in three years time or even before.     

The Forest group, of which I am proud to be a member, have held meetings and demonstrations and also raised a petition against the new proposals.  We had obtained well over 2,000 signatures which we handed this to our MP Mark Harper, who, being an ardent supporter of this Government, was unable to convince us that the proposals are to the advantage of the people as a whole.

Every person we had approached for signatures told us they had never heard anything of this before – not surprising when you discover that those in the know were told to keep it quiet.

The plan was to arrange the take-over from last April though due to a hitch, it was delayed until October 1. Due to the campaigning carried out by the various groups involved, we have been able to delay that date again. 

We've applied for a Judicial Review and employed a legal representative, who we hope will be able to, at least, arrange that the proposals are put out to tender as they should have been in the first place, but weren't.  Of course we want to stop the action altogether and keep our hospitals out of the hands of profiteers and that is a possibility.

The legal fees could be considerable and we have already found many willing contributors to our legal costs but would welcome many more. If any of your readers could contribute they would be helping themselves and the whole community in the long run. Contributions should be made out to:  "Keep Gloucestershire NHS Public" and sent to Dr Bernice Boss,?Castle Coach House, Castle Pitch, Stroud, GL5 2HP.

– Claude Mickleson, Lych-Gate Mews, Lydney.