Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting announced in the Sun that opposition to NHS privatisation comes from “middle class lefties”. He stated:
We will… use spare capacity in the private sector to cut the waiting lists.
Streeting also said the NHS is not a “shrine”. He branded NHS funding a “heavy… price we’re paying for failure” and championed giving patients a “real choice” within the NHS.
But 78% of UK people believe the NHS should be run in the public sector.
Wes Streeting: out of touch with the public?
There is clear efficiency in expenditure when it comes to public healthcare. The largely for-profit system in the US costs far more than double per person on healthcare compared to what we spend in the UK.
That’s because shareholders are siphoning off cash in the US.
Still, the Conservatives have starved the NHS of funding and brought in increasing privatisation.
Back in 2012, the NHS was legally abolished as a public institution under the Health and Social Care Act, opening it up to the private sector like never before.
Then until 2022, the amount of NHS privatisation increased from 3% in 2011 to almost 10%.
Now Labour are again acting in line with the Conservative view. Instead of challenging privatisation, Streeting is calling for more of it.
That’s despite Keir Starmer pledging in his Labour leadership campaign to “end outsourcing” in the NHS.
A Blairite approach?
Former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair increased private provision for the NHS with private finance initiatives (PFI). Streeting does not distance himself from Blair, instead he says:
We can call on Tony’s advice any time we like, and we often do.
Rather than using the nation’s sovereign currency to invest in more healthcare facilities, PFI amasses huge debt from the private sector. It’s simply a way to turn part of the public sector into a cash cow.
Labour and Murdoch
Starmer’s Labour has fully embraced the Conservative argument rather than provide an alternative. He has already followed Blair in cosying up to Rupert Murdoch who’s family business owns the Sun and Times
So it’s no wonder Wes Streeting is writing articles in the paper with an alleged history of racism.
A European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) report found the Sun using “inflammatory anti-Muslim headlines” alongside “biased or ill-founded” reporting fueling negative “stereotypes”.
Whether it’s aligning with the Sun or pushing privatisation, Labour are clearly on the wrong track. We need to opt for alternatives.
Featured image via Sky News – YouTube
By James Wright
This post was originally published on Canary.
