Robin's pre-election message in April 2015

message from Robin Lovelock, in April 2015, before the General Election, that was at the top of www.NHSCare.info ...

By an accident of fate, my daft hobby project, involving Snoopy the Viking trying to sail a little robot boat across the Atlantic, may, after the flurry of that publicity has died down, give a rare opportunity for UK publicity, that does not come up often. e.g. those BBC Panorama "National Home Swindle" broadcasts. To see the publicity forces at work, visit my website www.gpss.co.uk and visit the AsOnTV page. page.

We live in "Interesting Times", with the UK General Election approaching in May. The fact is, every UK Polital party is guilty of the process that has continued, since it was conceived, by a very astute Thatcher Government. Vast numbers of people have been paying for long term care, such as for a care home, when the Law has not changed: the Law demands that the NHS pay all the costs, including accomodation. It was that amazing woman Pamela Coughlan, still the most active member of our "NHSCare Coughlan" cause, who won her historic victory in the Appeal Court, all those years ago. The ruling in this case clarified the Law, regarding free NHS care, from cradle to grave, that has not been weakened, since the Primary Legislation was passed, in 1946, before the NHS was established in 1948. Any patient needing the same or more care than Pam Coughlan, has the right to free NHS Care. The Law Society have backed what is said on NHSCare for years.

This "scam", and evasion of the Law, has saved New Labour and Conservative/LibDem Governments about £2billion per year, about 2% of the NHS budget, or 0.2% of the total Government spending. It was politically expedient to take this money from this elderley and vulnerable part of the UK population, rather than make cuts elsewhere, or raise taxes a miniscule ammount, such as Inheritence Tax, National Insurance, or other taxes. Even in Scotland, where there is free "nursing care" (a small part of the cost of a hospital), we've had a similar situation, of the lucky few who discover NHSCare.info being able to use Law Firms to claim ALL the cost. So the Scottish Nationalists are still vulnerable. I don't think UKIP even know about this: I know some Conservative and LibDem MPs and Peers who do know, but I doubt if the majority know. They may get to know know soon ! :-)

It was Derek Cole who was the "Prime Mover" in our campaign, in using his understanding of the Law, knowledge of the problems of caring for someone, and political conections into the Liberal Party, to "make things happen". The NHSCare.info pages below, have documented this activity, including his providing evidence to the Law Society, alerting them to the significance of the Coughlan Ruling, but also drafting questions in the House for Paul Burstow, MP. As it has said on NHSCare for years, much of the information on NHSCare.info originated from Derek, and he set up our meetings with Politicians like Paul Burstow and Lord Freddy Howe. Derek once described himself as an "... old retired Headmaster and only an academic lawyer". Maybe so Derek, but sometimes Grumpy old men can achieve great things :-)

Below is a quote, from a recent email to me from Derek, when we started recent discussion of how "Snoopy publicity" might roll into a rare chance for our campaign to get it's message through to everyone, including Public and all MPs. Pam (who has been following Snoopy's antics for years) is closely involved in this, and I would regard Pam as our best Spokesperson on this subject, along with others, like her solicitor: checkout those videos below.

from Derek Cole, on 27th March 2015:
... Freddy Howe is a Conservative Minister of State and I have his personal written assurance that ex parte Coughlan is still in force despite the new care Act. Incidentally it now gives carers a legal right to be included in all decision making. Paul Burstow, as Chairman of the Health Committee, has sent me similar assurances which he obtained. His report including my cases, appeared in the Daily Mail the day Robin was about to agree to pay, and Paul put him in touch with me. In view of the staggering dishonesty of councils of all political complexion in handling Ex Parte Coughlan, I will not vote for any English Party. If Bleddyn or the Scot Nats or Sinn Fein ran a candidate in Newbury I would vote for one of them. Contrary to David Cameron's belief, I think we would be much better governed if ONLY Scottish, Welsh and Irish M.P.s. could vote on English matters. "

I particularly like that last sentence of Derek's. Bleddyn Hancock has also been part of our NHSCare.info group in the early years: checkout that early NACODS press release, and the television broadcast with Bleddyn, on the "What the Media Report and Parliament" page.

I put up those words above, so we can start to be prepared for any UK Press/Radio/TV interest in NHSCare.info and Free NHS Care, rather than GPSS.co.uk and Snoopy the Vikings Adventures. Some of our "spokes people" will soon be ready, including those you see below.

Here are some draft words, composed by myself now, that I would like to hear uttered by members of all the polital parties, in their election pledges, even if too late to be included in their Election Manifestos, or TV broadcasts:

I pledge that we would encourage the Department of Health, NHS, and Local Authorities, to obey the Law, and the Coughlan Ruling. That is, all people in Care Homes will probably no longer to pay for their care, including Health Care, "Social Care", and the cost of food and accomodation. This is as has been explained for years on the Coughlan Campain website NHSCare.info"

Why on earth would I want the person to actually mention our NHSCare.info web site ? Because they would have been fed the words to say by an advisor: any person saying "NHSCare.info" would probably have the sense to check what web site they were promoting. Over the years, since 1995, and setting up GPSS.co,uk to promote my GPS Software, I was often contacted by overseas businesses, asking me questions. I soon learnt to establish a "Quiz" process they went through, before I began any discussion. In later years, when dealing with Journalists, enquiring about Snoopy's robot boat, I sometimes get a call, from a journalist who has simply been passed my 'phone number. That is why the conversation normally starts with my asking "Have you seen my website ?", followed soon after by "What does it say you should mention ?".

This saves both them, and myself, lots of time: Pictures and videos are worth a thousand words: checkout those videos below ;-)

As I said, that pledge is just a starting point. What about the millions of people who have been cheated into paying for the Care Home, often having to sell their home. Either that, or the Local Authority has a "Charge" put on the property, so the house cannot be sold until the money is paid - which the Law says the NHS should pay anyway.

Most of these people will be unlucky, because over the many years this "scam" has been going on, any evidence that could be taken to Court will have been lost or destroyed. So any new Government will probably not have to face the financial nightmare of paying back £2billion/year x 12 years = £24billion. e.g. a care home might cost £1000/week, so, for three years, that's £150,000. Law firms will be very happy to take on these retrospective claims, as one in Cardiff has done with great success in recent years, offering "no win no fee" in return for taking about 20% of the final settlement.

Even the Law Firm, who defends the NHS and Government in fighting these cases, quite likes our NHSCare.info Campaign. When I rang them over 11 years ago, when I was setting up www,NHSCare,info, and realised the massive political significance, I was surprised and delighted with what this senior chap had to say to me. He was very up-front and honest. I did not record the conversation, but let me paraphrase what I think he said:
I don't see a problem Mr Lovelock: the more people who discover, from your website and campaign group, that the Law demands the NHS pay for the Care Home, the more people will take their case to Court. This means we get to fight more cases, defending the NHS. We are not paid on results, but on the time we put on the case. So how can we lose ? Keep up the good work !

Isn't it nice to have ALL the lawyers on our side ? Now we can wait to see which Political Parties switch to being on our side :)

Robin Lovelock
April 1st 2015
p.s. if you want to see the Spaghetti tree flowering in our garden, check out my AsOnTV page :-)