I write in response to Martin Belam’s interesting piece (Jeremy Corbyn’s Nye Bevan quote is pure fiction, 17 May). The attributed Bevan quote is: “The NHS will last as long as there’s folk with faith left to fight for it.” Belam says Bevan “did not actually say those words”. As the author states, the line appears in Food for Ravens, written by Trevor Griffiths. However, it is difficult to prove he never actually said it. I contacted Griffiths. His response, via email, was: “I have no written source for it, but old Bevanites in the coalfields were saying something like it during the strikes of the 80s and often quoting Nye as the source.” Stating the quote is “pure fiction” I feel is not quite accurate. It may or may not have been something Bevan said; we may never know for sure. I propose that it represents him as faithfully as possible.
Dr Ben White
King’s Somborne, Hampshire
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