§ Mr. Chris Smith (Islington, South and Finsbury)I have the honour to present a petition urging that St. Bartholomew's hospital should not be closed but saved. The House will recall that Professor Tomlinson dismisses 900 years of history in seven paragraphs. Millions of people around the country do not wish St. Bartholomew's to close. The petition is signed by 126,000 people, in addition to the 500,000 people who delivered a petition to 10 Downing street only a month ago.
The petition reads:
The Humble Petition of the patients and friends of St. Bartholomew's HospitalShewethThat St. Bartholomew's Hospital is an indispensable resource for the health and welfare of the local community, a national centre of medical excellence, and provides all patients with a high quality of care.Wherefore your Petitioners pray that your honourable House do all within your power to ensure that St. Bartholomew's Hospital remains open for the benefit of local residents and patients who rely on its services and would be harmed by its closure.And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray, &cThe petition is strongly endorsed by me, thousands of my constituents, and hundreds of thousands of Londoners.
§ To lie upon the Table.