1p tax hike could save ailing NHS
FORMER PM ON HEALTH SERVICE IN CRISIS
GORDON Brown today warns the NHS is in dire need of help and calls for a repeat of his 1p rise in National Insurance to rescue it.
The former Prime Minister says the mounting financial pressures combined with an ageing population have placed the health service in “mortal danger”.
And he says it will struggle to survive in its present form without an emergency cash injection.
In 2002, as Chancellor, Mr Brown raised £9billion a year from a 1p rise in NI. In an article for the Mirror to mark the NHS’s 70th anniversary next month, he insists: “After eight years of austerity we must refinance the NHS again.”
A similar NI increase would raise £11billion in 2019 for health and social care, Mr Brown adds. His intervention puts pressure on Government to deliver its vow to find extra cash for the NHS. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said people are willing to pay more taxes to fund it, but the Treasury’s coffers remain closed. PM Theresa May is facing increased calls from Tory MPs to boost spending and honour the Leave campaign’s pledge of £350million a week for the NHS – or £18.2billion a year. The Lib Dems fought last year’s general election with a pledge to raise income tax by 1p to fund the service. Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary Jon Ashworth said it was right to look at options to fund the NHS. Labour has vowed to provide an extra £8billion a year for health and social care, paid for by raising taxes for the richest 5% and reversing corporation tax cuts.
Mr Ashworth said: “It was thanks to Gordon Brown that the last Labour government more than doubled investment in the NHS, leading to the lowest waiting times and highest satisfaction ratings.
“Labour would be spending an extra £45billion across this parliament for the NHS and social care if we had been elected last year.
“As we develop a funding settlement for the long term, it’s right to look at tax options for the future. The truth is Theresa May can’t deliver a plan to save the NHS on its 70th anniversary. The Tories don’t believe in the NHS and that’s why this Tory government plunged it into the crisis it is in today. “A real 70th birthday present would be to reverse Tory privatisation and boost the NHS with the multibillion pound settlement needed by making big business and the wealthy pay their share of tax.” Referring to student nurses’ bursaries being axed and visas denied to overseas doctors he added: “A real present would be to give staff fair pay, train more nurses and midwives by bringing back the bursary and stop blocking the best medics coming here.”
£11bn The amount Gordon Brown says his proposed tax increase would raise
EVERYBODY recognises our beloved National Health Service needs an urgent, life-saving cash injection, so the debate is how much and how do we fund it.
Gordon Brown was the architect of its revival after years of Tory neglect, with his 1p National Insurance rise, so the ex-Labour PM prescribing a repeat tonic after another bout of uncaring Conservatism is compelling.
The £11billion would be a huge boost, and a similar 1p rise was floated jointly last month by former Labour and Tory health ministers and the IPPR progressive think tank.
But to boost spending we must also examine tax loopholes exploited by the rich. It’s time for the Amazons, Googles and Facebooks of the world to pay fair and fund services.