We can’t clap away destructive NHS cuts – no matter how much we profess to love our carers
Last night, I took a break from staring into my phone and Googling "how to cut your own hair" to stand outside and join hundreds of neighbours banging saucepans from their balconies. We cheered with people across the UK and Ireland who opened their doors and windows to clap for workers at the coalface of coronavirus – the doctors, nurses, and other NHS staff.
This wave of gratitude was sparked by Annemarie Plas, a 36-year-old woman from London, whose viral image invited people to #ClapForOurCarers after she saw similar gestures in The Netherlands.
I hadn’t expected to take part because the idea of clapping like a seal into the night air had previously struck me as pointless and self-serving. It was certainly the impression I got from videos of celebrities taking part, including the somewhat dystopian footage of Priyanka Chopra applauding an empty lawn from her mansion.
But if we truly want to thank NHS staff, gratitude has to go hand-in-hand with direct calls to action. We’d all do well to heed the advice of Aneurin Bevan, who led the establishment of the NHS, when he wrote in 1952 that, “warm gushes of self-indulgent emotion are an unreliable source of driving power in the field of health organization.”
Or if you want to emulate someone alive today, we can look to my other hero: Britney Spears, who called for the redistribution of wealth and a general strike. Now that’s something I’d give a standing ovation to.
*A previous version of this article said We Own It came up with "six demands from NHS staff to help us tackle coronavirus", this has now been corrected to Keep Our NHS Public, which is responsible for launching the petition
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