General Election 2015: Labour to reject pressure to match Tory NHS spending plans

Labour's rejection comes despite a warning from a former NHS chief that it faces a severe cash crisis

Kenneth Clarke believes politicians should resist pressure from 'lobbies' (PA Wire)

Labour will reject pressure to match Tory and Liberal Democrat pledges to inject an extra £8bn into the health budget, despite a warning from a former NHS chief that it faces a severe cash crisis.

Ed Miliband and Ed Balls, the shadow Chancellor, believe that such a promise would undermine Labour’s attempt to win the voters’ trust on the economy by making the deficit its top priority in its election manifesto. Some Labour candidates want the leadership to pledge an extra £8bn before next month’s election. But a Labour source told The Independent: “We will not make unfunded spending commitments like the Tories.”

Kenneth Clarke, the Tory former Chancellor, warned his party against making “silly” spending promises that could undermine a “fragile” economic recovery. Labour accused the Tories of making £25bn of unfunded election pledges, including the £8bn for health.

Mr Clarke told the New Statesman magazine that politicians should resist pressure from “lobbies” such as organisations like the BMA. He said the Tories have not won a general election for 23 years because they “ become much too right-wing” and hoped David Cameron would continue to seek to redress it. Mr Clarke appeared to criticise Tory attacks on Mr Miliband, saying: “Personally I disapprove of personal attacks on your opponents. I've never done that. I also think it costs you votes.”

Kenneth Clarke believes politicians should resist pressure from 'lobbies' (PA Wire)

Sir David Nicholson, who retired last year as chief executive of NHS England, accused politicians of ignoring its “substantial financial problem", preferring to trumpet their plans to expand healthcare during the election campaign. He expressed "very great concern" that hospital trusts were running up large deficits, which would become "crystal clear" later this year.

Sir David said it would be “helpful” for Labour to pledge the £8bn a year suggested by his successor Simon Stevens. But he told BBC Radio 4 that the money was needed in the current and next financial year, not by 2020 as the Tories and Lib Dems have promised. He also said the £22bn of efficiency savings by 2020 in the Stevens blueprint for the NHS were a “big ask.” He added: "There is no healthcare system in the world that's delivered this scale. But you could get close.”

He warned that failure to achieve the savings would lead to "managed decline" of the NHS, with patients waiting longer for treatment and "emergency action" such as vacancy freezes.

Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, said: “We agree that the NHS faces a significant financial challenge over the next parliament. That’s why we have committed to finding at least an extra £8bn a year by 2020. Labour must explain why it won't find the money the NHS says it needs. Unlike the Conservatives, it doesn’t have a plan for the economy and that means it will never be able to fund the NHS.”

Nick Clegg said Sir David and his successor were right to expect parties to explain how they would come up with the funding required for the NHS. He said the Lib Dems had been "very clear" about where the extra £8bn a year would come from, citing their plans to change capital gains tax relief and to tie NHS spending to the proceeds of economic growth.

Labour insisted it was the only party which would put “money on the table” immediately, through a £2.5bn-a-year boost funded partly by a mansion tax on homes worth more than £2m.

Mr Balls said: "We are the only party with a fully funded plan to get extra investment into our NHS - and we'll start straight away in our first Budget. 20,000 more nurses, 8,000 more GPs, cancer tests guaranteed in a week - a plan to save and transform our NHS.”

The shadow Chancellor said: “The Tories haven't said where the money is coming from. You cannot fund the NHS on an IOU."

Mr Balls claimed working families would lose out to the equivalent of £1,439 each if the Tories win the election because of their £25bn a year of "fantasy and unbelievable promises”. He said the "panicky promises", such as the NHS pledge and spending £6.5 bn to raise the income tax allowance to £12,500, would leave people out of pocket.

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