Theresa: We’ll spend £10billion on new hospitals

THERESA May last night vowed to spend £10billion on a new generation of hospitals in the most ambitious building programme in the history of the NHS.

The Prime Minister said upgrading and replacing ‘inadequate and antiquated facilities’ would allow more people to be given the best care closer to home.

The £10billion capital spending boost will go on improving NHS buildings and technology – and comes on top of an extra £8billion already promised for day-to-day running costs over the next five years.

Mrs May gave details of the hospital building programme as she faced a grilling from Andrew Neil last night in an interview on BBC1.

While dodging questions on how she would pay for the huge injection of money, the Prime Minister said only that the Tories would be able to give the NHS the funding it needs. ‘Any of this money can only be provided if we’ve got the strong economy to fund it. And that’s one of the crucial differences between what I’m proposing and what the Labour Party is proposing,’ she said.

The Tories are promising to ‘ensure that the NHS has the buildings and technology it needs to deliver care properly and efficiently’.

The party pledged in its election manifesto: ‘ Since its inception, the NHS has been forced to use too many inadequate and antiquated facilities, which are even more unsuitable today. We will put this right and enable more care to be delivered closer to home, by building and upgrading primary care facilities, mental health clinics and hospitals in every part of England. Over the course of the next parliament, this will amount to the most ambitious programme of investment in buildings and technology the NHS has ever seen.’

Mrs May faced tricky questions during the interview about her party’s manifesto promises on social care and their repeated failure to bring net immigration down to the tens of thousands as promised at the past two general elections. But she said she and her Cabinet were determined to cut the numbers coming into the country because it is clear that is what the public wants.

‘We are continuing to work to deliver what I believe ordinary people want. I mean immigration was one of the issues that underpinned that Brexit vote,’ she said.

‘People do support the immigration target and what they’re supporting is the view of the British people. That’s what we’re supporting. Because the British people want to see us controlling migration. We have brought in new rules. We’ve ruled out a lot of abuse that was taking place in the system, but you have consistently to work at that.

‘We’ll get the ability to work at it in relation to the numbers of people coming from the EU, but we’re the party – me and my team – that are committed to saying we want to control migration, whereas Labour want uncontrolled migration.’

Mrs May refused to say how many pensioners would lose their winter fuel allowance, after she promised in the manifesto to stop giving the £300-a-year payment to the most wealthy.

She said: ‘We will means-test the winter fuel allowance but once again we will consult, we will ask people, charities, organisations at what level that should be set. What we are doing is [ensuring] that the least well- off pensioners will have their winter fuel payments protected.’

Mrs May said if she wins the election she will serve the full five-year term, but would not divulge how long she would like to remain in Downing Street. I will definitely stay for the next Parliament. Beyond that, I haven’t got through this election yet,’ she said.

‘I’m focusing on this election. It’s the most crucial in my lifetime, it’s about the future of our country and who people trust to take us forward.’

‘More care closer to home’