Healey: NHS reform is up to Cameron

Shadow health secretary John Healey responds to Nick Clegg’s comments on NHS reform:

“For all his tough talk on the NHS, Nick Clegg is up to his neck in the Tory-led government’s health bill and the Lib Dems have backed it so far at every stage in parliament.

“I’m glad Lib Dems are starting to make the arguments Labour has been making since the early autumn. This is a bad bill and if Nick Clegg is serious he must spell out exactly what his bottom line is.

“But in truth this is David Cameron’s call, not Nick Clegg’s. These are his NHS plans, and he ordered the ‘pause’. If the prime minister wants to prove to NHS patients and staff that his ‘pause’ is not just spin then he must shelve the bill as it stands and make radical changes to his NHS reorganisation plans.”