Kennedy accuses opponents of “empty rhetoric” on choice
The Liberal Democrat leader has accused Labour and the Conservatives of engaging in an “artificial” debate about choice in the public services.
“Choice” has been the buzzword in Conservative plans for both the education and health systems. They claim that they would free the services from central government control and allow parents and patients to choose the school or hospital of their choice- even to the extent of allowing public money to be used to part fund private provision.
Labour has claimed that these polices amount to subsiding the private sector and pledged that choice in the NHS will expand as capacity expands.
In a speech to party activists, Charles Kennedy said he rejected this debate, arguing: “Without quality and capacity, choice is empty rhetoric…Our approach recognises that choice is only relevant when quality and capacity are enhanced so that choices become meaningful.”
“Our mantra won’t be choice. Our watchword is quality. And our brand – fairer taxation for investment; a commitment to the integrity of our public services; and a true commitment to localism – sets us apart.
“That’s what we believe that people really want. Quality public services locally available – not false choices.”
“‘Choice’ – as used last week by Labour and the Tories – is a spin word, a top line designed to distract from the real question. For Labour, it’s a smokescreen,” Mr Kennedy argued.
“When this Government was first elected, it wasn’t afraid to talk of ‘quality’. We said then that the way to achieve it was through extra investment after years of Conservative cuts. We won that argument and the investment is now going in.
“But Labour started too late, went about it the wrong way and wasted billions on centralised management and political targets. The improvements are slow in coming. So now the Prime Minister is afraid to mention quality because he needs a distraction from his record of delivery. Instead he talks of false choice.
“For the Conservatives, the ‘choice’ mantra is a mask. It’s a way of disguising their real agenda. Michael Howard is proposing to spend billions on subsidising people to opt out of the NHS at the tax-payer’s expense.”
“For over a decade both the other parties have offered the illusion of choice through autonomy and increased powers to schools…The reality is our most successful schools don’t want more powers – they want less interference. They want the freedom to tailor curriculum to children’s real needs; freedom from the endless grind of meeting meaningless targets; freedom from jumping through hoops for additional cash; freedom from the distraction of too many targets, too much testing and league tables.”
The Liberal Democrats, he said, would focus on “quality provision closer to home.”
Mr Kennedy said that an extra £5 billion investment in public services could be achieved without tax rises by scrapping unnecessary schemes- such as the Child Trust Fund- and unnecessary departments and functions.
They would also set up a “National Health Contribution” to replace National Insurance that would be dedicated to health funding.
