Wes Streeting is right to want to reform the NHS – but how far would he go?

The shadow health secretary went into the lion’s den of a Conservative think tank to dare the government to steal his ideas, writes John Rentoul

Streeting was a true Blairite in taking the fight to those who regard themselves as to the left of him (PA Wire)

Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, has a good line in Blairite home truths: “I am not going to pretend the NHS is the envy of the world,” he said in a speech today to Policy Exchange, the Cameronian think tank set up by Michael Gove.

That is a good start, when going into the lion’s den of Conservatives, who often ask why, if the NHS is so good, no other country has copied it. Streeting had a good time, and obviously enjoyed taking the fight to the other side. He reminded his hosts that the NHS had the shortest waiting times and highest patient satisfaction after 13 years of Labour government. He didn’t quite put it like this, but he made it obvious that he was pleased that the government’s most loyal think tank was looking to him for the solutions to the NHS’s current problems.

Indeed, it was interesting that he had been approached by Policy Exchange after his speech to Labour’s annual conference, when he outlined his plans for a workforce policy to recruit, train and retain more NHS staff. The think tank offered to write a report on how that policy could be delivered – a report that Streeting will now draw on in his preparations for a Labour government.