NYE BEVAN, GREAT WELSHMAN?
Many people during lockdown have binged watched Netflix shows, me. I have been binge-watching lectures by Professor Vernon Bogdanor on the postwar Britain, and they are damn good viewing, this guy is so good, he is better than a watching a documentary, he is fair and objective about whoever he happens to be speaking about. *This video about Nye Bevan is part of a series about great British politicians who may have made great prime ministers. its interesting that Hugh Gaitskell is missing from this list, and Bevan is, in fact, that Gaitskell's widow said that Nye should have been Labour leader than her own husband (something I never knew). This lecture gives meat to Nye's character and personhood. instead of just a welsh windbag or firebrand, we see a man of integrity and passionate devotion to his country. Bogdnador's view that he was a "first-class minister" one should read John Pater's "Making of the National Health Service" he was a senior Civil Servant who saw the implementation of the Act that created it, and his view is that Bevan was the first-rate minister and that his talent was wasted by Attlee's poor choice of positions that he put him in. He was appointed as Minister of Labour when Bevan had wanted to be Colonial Secretary because he would have been a great help in working between the nations of the new Commonwealth, Attlee felt that Nye would be too "racially prejudiced" for the position (not in the way you would think).
NYE'S WELSHNESS?
Those who know him so well are familiar with his view and the famous speech where he describes the "Tories being lower than vermin" his use of rhetoric was well known as he was regarded as only second to Churchill in speechifying! or perhaps equal to. What did he think of Wales and Welshness, devolution, and perhaps even there being a Welsh NHS, might be indicated by his view to a "Welsh Day" that was introduced in Parliament in 1944 (by the Coalition Government) by saying what is the difference between Welsh and Westmoreland sheep? and that problems should be dealt with within the context of Central government, he probably would not be happy with the current setup? We know what he thought of Tories,(but not Tories as people he was a friend of Iain McLeod, they used to go to rugby matches together). One suspects that his view of Welsh nationalism and perhaps Plaid Cymru was similar, llygodMawrr! which is probably why his place as the Greatest Welsh Person is so controversial, who many wanted Owain Glyndwr should be, personally I think that accolade as second should go to Hywel Dda, the first king of Deheubarth, who was the ruler of all wales (except Glamorgan where I live) who codified Welsh law and was progressive because it promoted sex equality, which was advanced not only for its time, but for the next 1000 years, but I digress. I think Bevan recognised his Welshness but thought it was not as important to the common good of all those living in the Isles!
HEALTHCARE REFORM IN AMERICA
what has Bevan to do with healthcare in the US? Quite a bit actually, because of the same arguments used against the NHS are being used by those opposed to "Medicare for all" advocated by Sanders and Warren as opposed to the amended Obamacare advocated by Joe Biden (the current Democratic nominee). Not only was it affordable, but private hospitals existed alongside the NHS. So when Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune speaking on The McLaughlin Group that he "did not want to lose his insurance" which is simply not true. I can give an example when I worked for Tesco in the 1980s, the company offered a private health insurance policy with BUPA, which I did take out, but there was private healthcare that existed alongside the NHS. its a shame that in this forthcoming election the best they could come up is a dried out guy like Biden, and i like him, however that is conditional on his current situation
CONCLUSION
I hope those who read this (the ones I have tagged) listen to this lecture and i would love to listen to their views.
