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Rio Ferdinand, Footballer, Backs Campaign Against NHS Reforms

Rio Ferdinand Nhs Reforms

First Posted: 17/02/2012 18:56 Updated: 17/02/2012 19:03   PA

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Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand has tweeted his support for Labour's campaign to stop Government reforms to the NHS.

The Premiership football star, whose mother worked as a nurse, took to Twitter to back a mammoth online petition against the coalition's controversial Health and Social Care Bill.

Ferdinand tweeted: "Great work guys in crossing 100k for petition to Save NHS. Keep pressure to get 250k so sign."

His endorsement of the Drop the Health Bill petition to his two million followers on Twitter, was quickly picked up by Labour - but not without a hitch.

Ed Miliband tweeted back, "Thanks for support on #dropthebill. I give you my word, if they go ahead, this will be a defining issue of the next election."

But the Labour leader, whose football allegiance lies with the player's former club, Leeds United, initially spelt the name of Ferdinand's account as "@riofredy5" instead of the correct one "@rioferdy5".

The spelling error was too much for some tweeters, who deluged Miliband's twitter account heaping scorn on his second "twitterfail".

Mr Miliband recently tweeted about the death of Bob Holness who he said would be remembered for his TV show "Blackbusters" - causing an eruption of derision.

The e-petition calling for the NHS plans to be scrapped has now reached 140,000 signatures, and is still climbing, which could force MPs to debate the issue in the House of Commons.

Miliband today visited the Royal Bolton Hospital in Greater Manchester, accompanied by shadow health secretary Andy Burnham.

Burnham said Ferdinand's support was "fantastic".

"It's not about celebrity endorsement," he added.

"The message it sends is that this campaign is not a political campaign, it's about people from all walks of life who recognise that the NHS matters.

"I think it's brilliant that people of his stature make those statements and I think he's done the NHS a great service today."

A Department of Health spokesperson said: "The Health and Social Care Bill will hand power to GPs, put patients at the heart of the NHS and reduce needless bureaucracy.

"It has been exposed to unprecedented parliamentary scrutiny, and continues to be debated in the House of Lords.

"The concerns raised have been listened to, and this is a key part of the development of the legislation."

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Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand has tweeted his support for Labour's campaign to stop Government reforms to the NHS. The Premiership football star, whose mother worked as a nur...
Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand has tweeted his support for Labour's campaign to stop Government reforms to the NHS. The Premiership football star, whose mother worked as a nur...
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Boll X
8 Fans
19:57 on 18/02/2012
I don't suppose Ferdinand is suffering from the s--te that Burnham and Milliband left us up to our necks in.
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vectradt1
36 Fans
22:30 on 18/02/2012
name fits the content of the post
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Boll X
8 Fans
23:39 on 18/02/2012
Very original, nobody's thought of that one before.
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GearoidOD
29 Fans
19:49 on 18/02/2012
Iwonder how he feels about reform of Sport Drug testing rules ?
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severus193to211
16 Fans
13:15 on 18/02/2012
Rio should be given credit for speaking up against the destruction of the NHS, even more so as he is a millionaire who will not be affected by the privatisation of health care resulting in care being available in future to only those who could afford to pay.
However, Rio ought to know that Labour had started the privatisation of the NHS and would do exactly what the Con LibDems are trying to do. If Labour subsequently becomes the Government, I guarantee that Labour will not reverse the Con LibDems' changes.
Having said that, I agree that Labour had made vast improvements to the NHS, e.g. waiting lists, after they inhereted Thatcher and Major's destructions of the NHS.
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AlanDente
Noses: made to hold glasses
151 Fans
16:30 on 18/02/2012
The NHS has long had a mixture of public and private, in an attempt to make it more competitive. To say that Labour began to privatise is unfair, in my opinion, especially when you compare their vision against this wholescale change Lansley has come up with.
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James Franklin
0 Fans
10:00 on 19/02/2012
let me simply ask you how much tax you want to pay, and whether you want the money in the NHS budget to pay for CLINICAL EXCELLENCE or non-clinical managers? I have direct and personal experience of working in the NHS and I can assure you that it is over-managed by people with no more medical knowledge than a pole cat, it has people so rubbish at their job yet impossible to sack they simply get shunted about to placate Unions and million are wasted on pointless projects that simply do not improve things for the patients...and that clearly has a negative impact on staff moral and attitudes. The majority of NHS clinical staff are great and hard working, but many are demoralised. It is all to easy to blame successive Governments, they are all to blame and so are the public who allowed and tolerated such changes. The NHS must change to provide the public with a first rate service again and to allow the staff to feel valued as employees and that they have all the tools necessary to do their job to the best of anyone's medical abilities.
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mokgee
48 Fans
12:23 on 18/02/2012
Who truly cares what this Millionaire believes, or any of them..The only genuine asset about football, are the loyal fans, who spend all their money on these Millionaires..Identical to politics, football has become rotten to the core to which there will be an end..The sooner the better, then the true footballers will become again the ones who resurrect it from the abyss of rot......
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James Franklin
0 Fans
08:49 on 18/02/2012
Rio, stick to Football and Racism not socio-political matters of which you clearly know nothing. our a football playboy who knows nothing of the modern NHS. It is a busted flush that does not serve the nation or the people it employs. It is riddled with over management, bad management, face-fitted management, poor clinical standards, poor building standards, poor Industrial relations, poor disciplinary standards, poor regulatory standards and a host of other related issues. This is both a gross insult to the staff who are trying to do a good job (The majority) and the nation who pay for it. It used to be the envy of the Western World, now it is a poor joke.

To say the NHS needs reform is like saying the Pope wears silly hats, it's a no brainer. I want my taxes to pay for the most efficient and up to date service available for the money thrown at it, and £118 Billion last year is more than enough to provide a first rate service, not a third rate one on a good day when the wind blows the right direction.
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sand171
13 Fans
11:21 on 18/02/2012
James your the other one that supports this sick party madness then?
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James Franklin
0 Fans
09:52 on 19/02/2012
I said I supported change, not change for the sake of change. If anything like the NHS is to be changed in any way it has to be an evolutionary change that improves things for staff and the public alike. I did not say the changes being proposed were all the right ones, I don't think they are, but change is needed.
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severus193to211
16 Fans
13:21 on 18/02/2012
So freedom of speech should be restricted to only the people that James Franklin considers should have that right. OK?.
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James Franklin
0 Fans
09:53 on 19/02/2012
Whatever, but please name me that anytime Rio has used the NHS in the last 20 years?
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Daviejohn
All the world's a stage,
24 Fans
 
08:43 on 18/02/2012
Is there room on the Bus for this man's increasingly large soapbox. Yawn
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Vapula
Failure is not an option
1158 Fans
01:07 on 18/02/2012
Why is it even news what Ferdinand thinks about public policy? He is a grunt who earns his money cheating for Manure. How that qualifies him to speak on anything except football is beyond me.
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ericblair4u
0 Fans
04:27 on 18/02/2012
I would have thought he can make a comment about anything he likes just as I can make a comment about football.
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severus193to211
16 Fans
13:18 on 18/02/2012
Because he has achieved more than you will ever achieve in 1000 lifetimes and he is more likely to be listened to than you.
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GearoidOD
29 Fans
19:52 on 18/02/2012
Out of Carling Cup, Out of FA Cup, Out of Europe !
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