My £5bn tax lift to cure the crisis

IF John McDonnell were Chancellor he would unveil an emergency Budget on Wednesday to save the NHS.

A desperately needed £5.1billion would go into the health service to end the winter crisis.

The money would come from the top five per cent of income earners and there would be enough left over to avert cuts in frontline services for the rest of the year.

That, said the shadow Chancellor in an exclusive interview, is what Philip Hammond should be doing now. And he could count on Labour’s support.

Mr McDonnell said: “Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is being blamed for this crisis. But the root cause is the Chancellor.”

Health bodies the King’s Fund, Nuffield Trust and the Health Foundation all estimated a funding gap of £4billion.

Mr McDonnell said: “Every health expert said that was what was needed. We thought Jeremy Hunt would win that argument in Cabinet and Philip Hammond would have to deliver.”

But in his November Budget the Chancellor stumped up only £1.9billion.

Since then hospitals have been deluged and in the last eight weeks 100,000 patients were stuck for more than 30 minutes in the back of ambulances, double the safe handover time.

A quarter of those languished in hospital car parks for more than an hour as bed occupancy hit 94.9 per cent.

Mr McDonnell said: “Families are in distress and NHS staff working longer hours are at their wits’ end.

“The cause is lack of funding. People realise we need to pay more for our NHS but it has to be done in a fair way.

“We would ask those who earn the most to give a little more.” In Mr McDonnell’s NHS Emergency Budget, 95 per cent of working people would see no change in taxes. Beer would not go up, nor would cigarettes. The shadow Chancellor’s NHS Budget would be just that – solely for the NHS. Those earning more than £123,000 a year would pay 10 per cent more income tax – 50p in the pound.

Those on more than £80,000 would cough up 45p. Together that would raise £4.7billion. A rise in insurance tax on private health care would bring the total to £5.1billion.

There is an expectation that the NHS will muddle through, as it does every year, and breathe a sigh of relief in the spring.

But the shadow Chancellor said: “Some people are not going to muddle through.

“They will die in hospital corridors.”