Dear Ed, WE DOCTORS and medical workers are outraged to find that the BNP has been leafleting East London (ahead of tomorrow’s EU elections) showing someone claiming to be a doctor saying, “I’m voting BNP because I see what immigration has done to the NHS”

Dear Ed,

WE DOCTORS and medical workers are outraged to find that the BNP has been leafleting East London (ahead of tomorrow’s EU elections) showing someone claiming to be a doctor saying, “I’m voting BNP because I see what immigration has done to the NHS.”

We are proud to be part of the NHS providing healthcare to everyone who lives in Tower Hamlets. The National Health Service has a proud tradition of a multi-ethnic workforce. If it wasn’t for the doctors and nurses who trained overseas who were encouraged to come to work here, the NHS would not be able to provide the high standard of care that it has achieved.

The East End of London has a vibrant history as a first stopping point for migrants to Britain, whether Jews, Huguenots, Irish, Bengali, Chinese, Vietnamese or more recent migrants from eastern Europe.

We remember the election on the Isle of Dogs of the National Front councillor Derek Beakon to Tower Hamlets council in 1993. During that time, racist attacks increased by 300 per cent.

Shortly afterwards, there were plans to close down the GP practice on the Barkantine estate in the Isle of Dogs.

We have witnessed the effect of racism, division and fear, most strikingly in April, 2001, when one of our patients, Shiblu Rahman, was murdered on his way home from work.

The BNP does not represent the interests of health workers. It does not represent the interest of working class people.

Dr Anna Livingstone

Dr Sheila Cheeroth

Dr David Kirby

Dr Ruth Vickers

Maggie Falshaw, practice manager

June Gray, practice nurse

Limehouse Practice

Gill Street Health Centre, Limehouse