This UK-US spat over the NHS has spilled over into a snowballing twitter campaign, with comments flooding in from Brits. Nigel Lawson said the NHS was like a religion to Britain, and many have come to defend the faith.
Brown has lent his support to the campaign, and it’s perfect for him. It allows him to play the patriotic card, telling those yanks (especially – boo – the conservative ones who watch Fox news, and their neocon supporters like Class Enemy Hannan) where to shove it. He also gives President Obama – he of Obama Beach fame – some political support. Finally, it allows him to claim that the NHS is somehow a great success – and of course it was a great Labour creation that the wicked Tories would ruin etc etc.
The Twitter comments are, right enough, overwhelmingly from people saying how the NHS saved their lives and that it’s free for everyone unlike in cruel America. There are a few critical ones: “Hospitals so clean that only mrsa can evolve and survive” but most of the comments are the stuff of Gordon Brown’s dreams. The blogosphere may be dominated by the right, but this Twitter campaign is a rare and rather spectacular exception. It will make the news, because anything involving Twitter is regarded as cool and funky. Yes, today is a good day for our Prime MInister. The first one for a long, long time.
UPDATE: As you can imagine, this twitter avalanche has sounded alarm bells in CCHQ – especially as those declaring love for the NHS have been adding how the Tories want to break it up. Don’t they realise? We have Andrew Lansley, Frank Dobson without the beard (or the dirty jokes), protecting the NHS budget. The message doesn’t see to have got through. So Cameron has broken his holiday to make clear he too supports the twits. Not so long ago, he coined a collective noun for them. Damn, wish I could remember what it was.
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