Starmer refuses to say how much more he’ll give NHS
SIR Keir Starmer failed to reveal how much extra money the NHS will receive under Labour – despite making a list of health service pledges yesterday.
The Labour leader said he would make the NHS “fit for the future”.
He laid out new targets to cut ambulance response times and cardiovascular disease deaths.
When pressed on financing plans, he claimed “it is not all about money” – insisting his focus is on science and technology “game-changers” to get more value out of the service.
Labour has vowed to fund “the biggest NHS workforce expansion” ever by scrapping non-dom tax status to raise over £2billion a year.
Sir Keir promised that the four-hour target to be seen in A&E, which has not been achieved nationally since 2015, would be hit by Labour by 2030.
Challenge
He also pledged to introduce a ban on advertising junk food to children and measures to prevent suicides. But asked in Braintree, Essex, about whether voters would mind that he cannot put a price on his plan, he said: “Where we’ve made a proposal about the change we’re going to make we’ve said how it’s going be funded.
“So this challenge... that we’ve not said where the money is coming from – it’s just wrong.
“I’ve run a public service – I know money makes a difference, but it only takes you so far.”
Asked to give an overall cost estimate, he would not provide a specific figure.
Tory Health Minister Will Quince said: “Sir Keir has a record of changing his mind – we can’t trust these will be Labour’s targets next week let alone in five years’ time.”