CAMPAIGNERS across Basingstoke joined a country-wide protest day held by a campaign group calling for the NHS to be saved from privatisation.

Members of the 38 Degrees campaign group urged people at the Top of The Town, in Basingstoke, to sign their petition calling for parliamentary candidates battling for the Basingstoke seat to save the NHS.

Maria Miller will be standing for the Conservative Party, Dr Paul Harvey for Labour, Janice Spalding for the Liberal Democrats, Alan Stone for UKIP and Independent candidate Omar Selim.

The petition described the NHS as “precious” and called for all five candidates to stop privatisation, make sure the NHS has the funds it needs to provide high-quality healthcare to everyone and to protect the NHS from American health corporations by keeping the NHS out of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.

The petition adds: “Our NHS is precious. We all rely on it to care for us and our loved ones. We want to protect it for the future, and we don’t want to see it run down or sold off.

“Over the past few years, NHS funding has been squeezed so much that services are suffering. This winter, hospitals up and down the country have declared “major incidents” because they’re struggling to cope.

“We want an NHS where patient safety is put first, and where the NHS is run for the public good.”

Father-of-three Eric Rivron, who is a member of 38 Degrees, told The Gazette that it was a successful day.

Th 75-year-old, who lives in Kempshott, added: “We all took our own signatures back and sent the figures back and they will now get sent to every prospective parliamentary candidate.”

To sign the petition, visit https:// you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/vote-tosave- our-nhs-basingstoke.