Reality of today’s cuts to our NHS
ANDY McDonald (Jan 24) blames the Tories for NHS cuts. Here is the reality.
In 1992, John Major’s Tory government started a relatively small number of Public Private Partnerships (PPP) which allowed major construction companies to raise the cost of building hospitals, prisons and road building, then rent them back to the state over a period that was usually 25 years. This enabled the government to avoid excessive building costs so making the annual government borrowing debt to appear to be less.
In June 1997, New Labour gained power, Much of the national press had warned prior to the election and for years thereafter that they would borrow hugely, adding to the national debt each year.
Gordon Brown hid this by massively extending PPP to 50 hospitals, numerous prisons and borstals, schools, public libraries, swimming baths and many other public facilities. In most cases local councils held power to select and negotiate which company would be chosen. However most did not have the skills to get a fair deal.
Boards managing these public facilities found that the yearly bills for PPP were so high that schools were forced to make drastic cutbacks. In some cases schools were forced to sell off playing fields so helping create a generation of unfit, badly obese children, that over time will cost the NHS dearly.
New Labour, when it took over in June 1997, inherited an NHS with only 18,000 managers. When it lost power 13 years later there were 46,000, all on a wage scale between £40,000 to £60,000 with retirement at age 60. With a monthly pension of £500 a week (2003 stats), if employed at age 30 and living until aged 80, this totals £2 million per manager.
The situation now is that in trying to balance the books, the Tories have cut grants to local councils. So many libraries have closed or are run by volunteers, youth clubs are gone, parks less well maintained, wheelie bins less frequently collected, rubbish is dumped, councils set up cameras in bus lanes to raise income, thus those fined boycott city centres, then shops close and variety disappears.
We are paying now for the 13 years of total mismanagement by the Labour government as the rest of the world will not fund our yearly national debt unless funding on spending is cut to the bone.
I have never voted Tory but have