LABOUR’S 10-POINT PLAN TO SAVE THE NHS
More nurses and GPs, new hospitals, extra scanners, reduced waiting times
LABOUR will today pledge £26billion to repair the damage a decade of Tory austerity has inflicted on the NHS.
Jeremy Corbyn has a radical 10-point plan to revive the crippled service with new hospitals, better equipment and more staff. Shadow Health Secretary
Jon Ashworth will say in a speech: “Our NHS is crying out for a financial rescue plan to deliver real change for patients. We are announcing today the levels of investment it needs to again provide the quality care our sick and elderly deserve.” Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said of the plan: “It takes the NHS back to the time before heartless Tory cuts.”
LABOUR yesterday renewed its pledge to scrap tuition fees.
A £3billion-a-year “cradle to grave” National Education Service would enshrine a legal right to take time off to focus on skills.
University tuition fees would also be scrapped, renewing an £11billion-a-year promise from Labour’s 2017 manifesto.
In a speech in Blackpool, Jeremy Corbyn said: “I see education as an escalator running alongside you throughout life that you can get on and off whenever you want.”
Tories claimed Labour was “making promises that it simply won’t be able to fulfil”. Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner said adult education “changed my life” after she left school pregnant at 16 and added: “The Conservatives say we cannot afford these measures. They are wrong.
We cannot afford not to invest in the most valuable asset we have – the people of this country.” Ms Rayner also vowed to crack down on overpaid university vicechancellors.
The lifelong learning policy applies to courses from Level 4 (higher national certificate) to Level 6 (undergraduate degree) in England. Labour said the plans would be funded by tax on high earners.
The National Education Union praised the idea after “years of devastating cuts”.