Alex Belfield, the mad right-wing radio host, is a very strong and outspoken critic of diversity. He bitterly attacks the affirmative action policy in which members of minorities are promoted despite the lack of talent in its name. Following the right-wing press, he’s been especially attacking June Sarpong, a former comedian who is now head of diversity at the Beeb on a salary of £230,000 a year. He’s also a critic of the NHS and says very openly that it should be privatised in order to improve service. Today he released another video commenting on the news that an NHS trust somewhere in the country had set up a head of diversity on another immense salary. For Belfield, this was just more anti-White discrimination and a complete waste of money that could be better spent elsewhere.
I think what’s driving the establishment of such posts in the NHS is the fact that members of ethnic minorities have been particularly hard hit by the Coronavirus. There have also been reports that Black mothers suffer more from complications in pregnancy than Whites as well as a feeling among ethnic minority NHS staff that they have been left particularly exposed and vulnerable to Covid. I think there have also been stories that Black medical staff are not promoted as much as Whites. It seems to me that the establishment of this post is an attempt by the NHS trust to show that it is taking these concerns seriously and is doing something to correct them.
The official’s salary may well be inflated, but it’s not posts like that which are wasting money in the NHS: its the privatisation Belfield is so ardently championing.
One of the points made in Ken Loach’s excellent film, The Spirit of ’45, is the massive growth in administration cost due to the Tories’ and Blair’s policy of privatisation. When the NHS was wholly nationalised, administration amounted to only 6 per cent of NHS expenditure. A few years ago this had doubled to 12 per cent. According to consultant radiologist and anti-privatisation author and campaigner Jacky Davis costs are now heading up towards the levels of the American private healthcare system, where they account for 18-25 per cent of expenditure.
Privatisation is not bringing costs down. It is driving them up, for poorer services.
But you won’t hear that from the Tories or Alex Belfield. Like Sargon of Gasbag’s little mate Callum, they will talk about nebulous ‘waste’ in the NHS and single out diversity officials.
But the diversity officials aren’t a drain on NHS funds. The privatisation they demand is.
If you want a return to better healthcare, ignore Belfield, ignore the Lotus Eaters and the Tory papers. Get the Tories out, and the Blairites out of Labour.
And demand a fully nationalised NHS!
Tags: Alex Belfield, anti-racism, BBC, Blacks, Carl Benjamin, Coronavirus, Ethnic Minorities, Jacky Davis, June Sarpong, racism, Sargon of Akkad, The Lotus Eaters, Women
Beastrabban\'s Weblog 
September 20, 2021 at 6:03 pm |
Bellfield’s got a massive chip on his shoulder against the beeb and anyone who works for them because he was sacked from Radio Norwich, he’s a real life Alan Partridge.
September 20, 2021 at 7:14 pm |
Definitely. He’s been saying for years that it’s all made up due to the jealousy of the other presenters because he got a larger audience, was a working class lad from a pit estate and not university educated and middle class.
September 21, 2021 at 11:30 am |
One claim levelled against the NHS is that Blair’s largess to the service was channelled through consultants who squandered it creating sinecures for their cronies rather than spending it on equipment and facilities. I don’t know whether any of your readers would be able to substantiate this?
January 6, 2022 at 10:31 pm |
The NHS managed for decades without diversity officials. Wouldn’t it be better to spend their salaries on hiring more doctors/ nurses?
January 6, 2022 at 10:40 pm |
Many Doctors and nurses returned abroad due to Brexit, now you want them back, make your mind up.