Horton campaigners part of Saturday's 350,000-strong march in London

Two coaches of Horton campaigners joined two from Oxford to mount a strong county contingent at the #OurNHS march in London on Saturday.
Keep the Horton General campaigners on the marchKeep the Horton General campaigners on the march
Keep the Horton General campaigners on the march

Keep the Horton General (KTHG)and the B10 GMB Banbury No 1 branch left the town early to join an estimated 350,000 other campaigners from all corners of Britain in the huge demonstration which ended in a rally in Parliament Square.

KTHG chairman Keith Strangwood led his posse the two miles from Tavistock Square sporting the Hands Off Our Horton banners, amid a stream of protest placards, flags and banners from different campaigns.

The march attracted a number of other groups fighting to retain acute services threatened with closure or downgrading through the NHS England-wide Sustainability and Transformation Plans, which will take £22bn out of the NHS and close acute wards.

Banbury GMB members march in support of the NHS - Picture by Phil Le MareBanbury GMB members march in support of the NHS - Picture by Phil Le Mare
Banbury GMB members march in support of the NHS - Picture by Phil Le Mare

Marchers listening to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn who said: “We’ve come here today to put our principles into practice. Defending the NHS is defending a basic human value and a basic human right.”

Also speaking was PCS union leader Mark Serwotka, two months after an NHS heart transplant necessitated by heart failure, caused by a rare virus he caught walking his dog.