CAMPAIGNERS calling for a halt to the Government’s controversial health reforms gathered to protest in the centre of York.

As the Health and Social Care Bill went through the House of Lords last night, a vigil was held outside York Library by various groups calling for an urgent rethink on the legislation.

Anne Leonard, of Defend Our NHS York, said: “The consequences to the NHS will be a two-tier system, with those who can afford it going down the private health-care route, while there will be a rump NHS left for the rest of us.”

Mags Waterhouse, of the think tank, Labour Left, said nobody could tell how the reforms would end up.

“Health isn’t simple,” she said. “Health is complex. It might look simple on paper but when you are dealing with people it becomes very complicated.”