Newcastle Unites / Stand Up To Racism North East

Rally,

Newcastle upon Tyne, 14th February 2026

Hello everyone. It is great to be here, for us all to stand up and be counted.
I’m a member of the campaign group KEEP OUR NHS PUBLIC NORTH EAST.  We have been campaigning here in the North East since 2010, and we stand for a PUBLICLY PROVIDED, PUBLICLY FUNDED and COMPREHENSIVE NHS, which is ACCESSIBLE TO ALL.  We are against the privatisation of the NHS and ongoing cuts to our health services.
We are made up of ALL members of the public, including many nurses and doctors and other NHS staff. If YOU feel it is important for the NHS to remain a public service, then please come and join our monthly campaign meetings.
And so…Newcastle Unites. Fantastic.  Today, we CELEBRATE the great contribution that people from ABROAD make to our society, and the great contribution that THEY make to the NHS in particular.  It is simply NOT TRUE that migration harms our NHS and, today, and very briefly, I want to give you three facts:
  • The NHS would collapse without workers from abroad. Over-all, around one in five, that is 20%, of all NHS staff were born outside the UK. 35% of doctors are from abroad and 27% of nurses and health visitors are from abroad.  And those are the Governments own stats. Without these people, and without their expertise, it is very clear what would happen – staff shortages in the NHS would be far worse and the quality of care would be diminished. Without workers from abroad, the crisis in our NHS would be deepened.
    We know that there are issues around this, and we need to support other countries in developing their own services more, but the fact remains that here in the UK, migrants are not an optional add-on, they are ESSENTIAL and are to be welcomed. If you go to A&E today, you will see many people from overseas – but these people are more likely to be treating you rather than waiting in the queue for treatment, and to these people, and to EVERYONE who works in the NHS, we say THANK YOU.
  • Ah, we hear – but what about undocumented migrants. There is a myth, often fuelled by some papers or social media or some politicians, that “undocumented migrants” are draining our NHS – this is false information. The reality is that under current laws they are only entitled to urgent care and some GP care. Hospitals must charge patients for non-urgent care if they don’t have the visa. We also know that some people avoid care because of the cost or a risk of deportation. By the way – we don’t think this is right. The UK can afford to provide healthcare, free at the point of need, and that this should include undocumented people seeking safety and security in the UK.  But the fact remains – there is NO huge drain on health resources by undocumented migrants, as we so often hear.  That is a myth.
  • And thirdly – what about human rights? Lets get this right. If you are an asylum seeker, then you have a legal right to seek safety; therefore, no asylum seeker can be in the UK illegally. Providing asylum and protection is a moral duty.…and, if you want to look at it this way, there is an economic benefit. After being granted leave to remain, working-age refugees contribute to the economy when they find work and begin paying taxes. Around 2/3rds of people granted leave to remain are of working age.
So – 1) the NHS would collapse without workers from abroad                          
2) Undocumented migrants pay for non-urgent care and                          
3)There is both a legal and a moral duty to provide asylum – and there is an economic benefit to the UK also.
At Keep Our NHS Public North East  we believe in healthcare for all – there needs to be NO BORDERS in the NHS.
—————-
So – we need to share these facts and we need to share the love on Valentines Day.  We CELEBRATE the contribution of migrants. We have 1000 leaflets which spell out these facts. Please take at least a couple, and please make sure you pass these on to friends and contacts.  We need to share these FACTS and we need to STOP the racist scapegoating of people from other countries.
AND FINALLY
It is great that you are here today. It says a lot about you.  BUT can I also suggest and ask for one final thing, and you can guess what I’m going to say – that you and your friends are in London on Saturday 28th March for the rally against the Far Right. Its no good thinking that your next door neighbour or that person at work or that person standing next to you here will be going, so its “OK to give it a miss, and maybe next time” – they may be thinking exactly the same thing.  We need YOU to be there, in London, on Saturday 28th March, standing up for what is right.   We all need to be there.
Thank you, and see you in London.
Happy Valentines Day!!!!