Byers – Labour will stand by free public services
A key ally of the Prime Minister will tell party supporters that Labour has no interest in jettisoning free public services.
Looking to end the confusion over the so-called “contracting-out culture” in public services, former Transport Minister Stephen Byers in a speech to party members in Essex will seek to counter suggestions that Labour wanted public services run for shareholders and not in the interests of the general public.
He will urge Labour to “nail the myth” that it secretly desires the end to the NHS as we know it.
Mr Byers will call on Labour to abide with its radical reform package in the public services and not shirk its responsibilities if services are operated by private firms.
Dismissing suggestions that Labour will drive through radical “privatisation” measures in an historic third term office, Mr Byers will issue the mantra of no privatisation “but the private sector working for the public good”.
With this is mind, Mr Byers will make the case for predetermined “limits” for the internal market in state services, echoing the view of the chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown.
“With reassurances about the limits to the market and the role of the private sector, I believe we can achieve a progressive consensus about the way forward,” he said.
“This does not deny a significant role for the private sector but puts it on a totally different basis.
“So in health the private sector operates under the NHS umbrella and due to initiatives like the new diagnostic and treatment centres are now making a significant difference.”
