Labour to be more active after healthcare debate: party chair

PvdA chairman Hans Spekman thinks that the party should be more active now that many of the Cabinet's plans have been adopted. Spekman sees the raging uncertainty about the decentralization in health care and feels that the PvdA should be on top of it. The PvdA has seen better days. The party suffered major defeats in the elections for the local councils and the European Parliament earlier this year. Voters seem to have lost their trust. The party has performed poorly in the polls according to the latest Political Barometer. A survey by TNS Nipo shows that half of Labour voters regret their vote for the party. This is before all the changes in health care have taken effect (less than 3 months away). On this too there are major concerns. Across the country the elderly and people with disabilities are concerned about whether they will retain their health care. "On this subject I sense the howling uncertainty of people." says Hans Spekman. He finds that his party must now take the space to advocate more for the people's certainty. The PvdA chairman has put an action in place in which all ranks of the PvdA will take part. The idea is that everyone within the PvdA will work together and give warning if there are problems with health care in municipalities. "If errors occur, I feel that we have to act immediately as political party. This is the duty of the Labour Party, which stands for a welfare state that provides people with certainty." The current government is about halfway through its term. New parliamentary elections will be held two and a half years from now - no later than March 2017. The PvdA as ruling party shares responsibility for the major changes in health care, and Spekman stands by it. But he understands that the changes make people uncertain and sometimes angry.