Rivals stop Boris giving £5bn of EU cash to NHS
PLANS to inject cash into the NHS are being delayed to prevent Boris Johnson claiming a political victory, friends of the Foreign Secretary have warned.
He will use today’s meeting of the Cabinet to make the case for using the ‘Brexit dividend’ to hand the NHS an extra £100million a week – a total of £5billion every year.
Mr Johnson is said to have the backing of several ministers, including Michael Gove, Jeremy Hunt, Chris Grayling and international development secretary Penny Mordaunt.
In the run-up to the EU referendum, Mr Johnson campaigned in a red bus emblazoned with a slogan suggesting Brexit could release £350million a week for the NHS and other domestic priorities.
Since the vote in June 2016, he has raised the issue with Theresa May several times. But No10 and
the Treasury are resisting it. A Cabinet rival said it was ‘not our job to keep Boris’s promises for him’. A Whitehall source added: ‘It is premature. Once we have an idea of the figure we will be saving we will set out what we’ll do with it.’
However, an ally of Mr Johnson claimed last night that some ministers were reluctant to link extra cash for the NHS to Brexit because it would boost Mr Johnson.
He said: ‘We are going to have to give the NHS more money before the next election whatever happens. Why not link the two and deliver on promises made to Leave voters? The only reason not to is to deny Boris a win.’
Another said: ‘Boris believes that if the Tories are going to beat Corbyn at the next election they must make the NHS a top priority and deliver new funding.’
Former Tory vice-chairman Robert Halfon said it would be ‘madness’ to short-change the NHS for political reasons, adding: ‘There’s an umbilical cord between the British public and the NHS.’
‘Why not deliver on promises made?’