FIFTY campaigners will stride out in defence of the National Health Service tomorrow on the first leg of a 300-mile People’s March for the NHS.

The aim of the march is to raise public awareness of the Con-Dem government’s continuing destruction of the NHS through cuts and privatisation.

The march starts at Jarrow in Tyne and Wear and will follow the route of the original 1936 Jarrow Crusade, when jobless people marched to Parliament in protest at appalling levels of unemployment following the Great Depression.

Tomorrow’s march begins with a rally outside Jarrow town hall at 10am and will take three weeks to complete.

“The NHS was built to care, not to provide profits for big business,” said TUC northern region spokeswoman Beth Farha.

“We all have a vested interest in the survival of the NHS as a public entity and I hope as many people as possible lend their support to such a necessary campaign to take the NHS out of critical condition and back to full health.”

Ms Farha, Jarrow MP Stephen Hepburn and Lizi Gray, great granddaughter of one of the original Jarrow marchers, will be among the speakers at tomorrow’s rally. 

The march will then pass through 23 towns and cities and be joined by more than 3,000 supporters at different stages.

General union GMB’s national officer for the NHS Rehana Azam said: “We are outraged at the assault by government on our most prized possession, the NHS.” 

For information or to join the march visit www.999callfornhs.org.uk