War veterans shouldn’t be funding our NHS – the government should

Captain Moore's efforts, however "heroic", portray the national health service as a charity, when it isn't

You can’t help but be heartened by the story of Captain Tom Moore, the 99-year-old World War II veteran who has raised over £12 million for the NHS completing laps of his garden. While Captain Moore had originally set a £1,000 target, the fundraiser spread like wildfire, resulting in more than 640,000 individual donations.

In the midst of dark times, stories like these bring lightness. Yet such altruism is a damning reflection on the state of our NHS.

It is important to note from the outset that Captain Moore’s actions are praiseworthy, and he deserves all the love he gets. There are few things which are more humbling than watching someone giving so much in service for their country. Likewise, the amount of money raised in such a short amount of time is a true testament to the spirit of generosity which lives in the hearts of people across Britain. This, however, doesn’t make the story any less tragic than it is. Captain Moore is a soon-to-be centenarian, and the fact that he feels compelled to raise money for an NHS whose staff have resorted to using bin bags in lieu of PPE should call into question why the healthcare system of one of the world’s richest nations requires his charity.

Captain Moore’s fundraiser is part of a groundswell of charity in support of the NHS that has risen up to meet this crisis. That includes the Run For Heroes 5km challenge, in which Olympic medallist Mo Farah and pop singer Ellie Goulding have participated, and the Premier League fundraiser #PlayersTogether. However laudable such efforts may be, they are also symptomatic of a worrying national trend, where our public healthcare system is coming to be seen as a charity, rather than a public service.

The sheer immensity of the coronavirus pandemic may have shocked us all, but it should not have shocked our government. Exercise Cygnus, held under Theresa May’s leadership in October 2016, showed that a potential flu pandemic would result in a significant shortage of necessary equipment. Unsurprisingly, the report’s findings were neither published nor adequately addressed. Four years later, and Boris Johnson’s government has shamefully mishandled the crisis, from wasting time by toying with a “herd immunity” strategy (which it has since denied), to missing out on EU procurement schemes. All of these fit within a decade-long pattern of Conservatives continually undermining and weakening the NHS through budget cuts, leaving it significantly understaffed relative to neighbouring European healthcare systems – a legacy which will haunt the party, regardless of any new investments. Hearing health secretary Matt Hancock praise Captain Moore as an “inspiration”, after having voted against giving nurses pay rises, leaves a bitter aftertaste. None of the problems the NHS is currently facing couldn’t have been dealt with before coronavirus. None of them should be fixed by the voluntary efforts of British citizens.

Stories like Captain Moore’s testify to both human virtue and structural failure. Watching politicians lauding these heartening fundraisers, after making them necessary by wrecking the NHS, turns a tragic situation into an infuriating one. The heroism of a war veteran should warm our hearts, but also alert us to the deep-seated failings in our system, ones it is the government’s responsibility to address.