Labour launches campaign against Tory health plans
Labour has launched a new attack on Conservative spending plans for the NHS.
Launching a new poster campaign against Opposition health policies, Health Secretary Dr John Reid accused Michael Howard’s party of hiding a ‘secret agenda’ for cuts to public services.
Dr Reid’s comments following the sacking of former Tory deputy chairman Howard Flight, who was deselected following a speech in which the Arundel and South Downs MP appeared to hint that his party were hiding the true scale of planned spending cuts to win the election.
The health secretary also attacked Conservative plans to increase patient choice by allowing those needing operations to claim half the cost from NHS funds if they choose to be treated privately.
Labour claim the Tories are proposing to charge patients for basic operations or forcing them to wait longer.
The Government also says Conservative plans would divert £1.2bn from the NHS, without doing anything to increase the number of doctors and nurses.
The new campaign launched on Saturday by Dr Reid and fellow health minister Rosie Winterton has been partly prompted by Labour polling which suggests that while the public are largely unaware of Conservative proposals, they react negatively to them when informed of the plans.
Labour claims polling evidence also suggests that a large proportion of the public believe Tory leader Michael Howard exploited the recent saga surrounding the case of pensioner Margaret Dixon, without tackling concerns regarding the NHS.
Mrs Dixon’s case was at the centre of a political row after the Conservatives revealed that the 69-year-old had had her shoulder replacement operation cancelled seven times.
The Tories have previously accused Labour of misrepresenting their health policy by talking about charges.
Conservative chairman Liam Fox said Labour wanted to talk “about anything but their own record”.
“They promised not to raise taxes but we’ve had 66 tax rises, they promised not to introduce student fees but they have, they promised to save the NHS and more people are dying than ever before from infections caught in dirty hospitals,” he said.
