Attach a health warning to Streeting’s divisive reforms

I WRITE to sound a warning about the very real danger to the NHS if Wes Streeting becomes prime minister.

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His vision of “reform” is deeply troubling - it risks turning our publicly funded health system into a creeping two-tier model.

Streeting’s recent moves are especially alarming. He has overseen the abolition of NHS England, cutting about 9000-10,000 jobs in the process.

He claims this will free up hundreds of millions for frontline care, but many experts and MPs have forecast chaos. And the outgoing chair of NHS England says so much top-level upheaval could destabilise the health service.

But this is not just about bureaucratic reshuffling, Streeting’s own words reveal a deeper ideological agenda.

He has explicitly said he wants to “use spare capacity in the private sector to cut waiting lists” He even went so far as to say he is “holding the door wide open” to private healthcare providers.

It is deeply disingenuous to dismiss these concerns by saying “the NHS will remain free at the point of use”

That is a miserably low bar when what is being sacrificed underneath is public ownership, accountability, and collective control.

Labour's own Scottish leadership has warned of a “creeping privatisation” under Streeting.

Linda Thompson, via email

Sarwar is a gasbag