NHS Workforce and Service Development

Part of Opposition Day — [18th Allotted Day] – in the House of Commons at 3:48 pm on 11 October 2006.

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Photo of Ian Austin Ian Austin Labour, Dudley North 3:48, 11 October 2006

The hon. Gentleman can listen for a while. Let him listen to what the Leader of the Opposition said about the proceeds of growth rule this year—his words, not mine. He said:

"As that money comes in let's share that between additional public spending and reductions in taxes. That is a dramatic difference. It would be dramatically different after five years of a Conservative Government."

He also said that he wants to replace public services for the poor with

"a profound increase in voluntary and community support".

It is the same old Conservative ideology: a small state and spending cuts, leaving the most vulnerable relying on charity. That is why the Tories cannot promise that they will not cut funding for the NHS.

Before the Leader of the Opposition's conference speech last week, the Conservative party website said that it would promise:

"We will never jeopardise the NHS by cutting its funding."

That line also appeared in the extracts released to the media before the right hon. Gentleman delivered the speech, but it did not appear in the final version or the published version.

The Tory motion claims that the NHS is being cut, but the Opposition voted against the extra funds we invested. In fact, not only did the right hon. Gentleman oppose the national insurance increase at the time, he called for a social insurance system for health care instead. The Tories cannot say that they have changed that position, because only this week the shadow Secretary of State repeated his opposition to the tax increases that paid for the improvements. Time and again, they use moderate, compassionate language to mask traditional Tory positions.

Today's Tories claim to support the NHS, yet they run it down at every opportunity. They tell us that they believe in the health service, yet they are still committed to massive cuts. They say the NHS is underfunded, yet they vote against extra spending. It is absolutely clear that when it comes to the health service—just like everything else—they do not have even one centre-ground policy.

There is no huge secret about the so-called new Conservative party. Every speech makes it absolutely clear: the Tories may not spell out the lower taxes they want, or the precise parts of the so-called "big state" they want to cut down to size, but anyone who looks beyond the rebranding will see the same old Tories committed to the same old spending cuts. Instead of greeting their so-called changes with warm words of approval, we should expose the fact that they are not really changing anything at all. We should demonstrate that they will claim anything to win, but that they do not believe a word of it.