NHS Long-Term Plan

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 5:55 pm on 7 January 2019.

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Photo of Matthew Hancock Matthew Hancock Secretary of State for Health and Social Care 5:55, 7 January 2019

I pay tribute to my right hon. and learned Friend, who of course did so much to set in train the modern health service that we know and whose reforms were kept and, indeed, enhanced during the period when Labour was in government. He is right about the need to run the NHS so that it can be the best that it possibly can be. Yes, we need the money, but we also need to run it well. It is no good just to argue about the money. On that he may have a surprising ally, because the shadow Secretary of State, who is currently looking at his mobile phone—well, he is not any more—said a couple of months ago:

“we need to augment the debate beyond the current mantra of ‘we can spend the most’”.

However, it appears that the Labour party only has a mantra of “We can spend the most.” We care about the money, but we care about the NHS being the best that it possibly can be, too.