Healthcare may trump Brexit in battle for British vote

By Kylie MacLellan

 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson greets and speaks to nurses at National Institute for Health Research at the Cambridge Clinical Research Facility, in Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, Britain October 31, 2019. Alastair Grant/Pool via REUTERS

 

LONDON (Reuters) - As Britain’s “Brexit election” campaign swings into action, it may not be the country’s exit from the European Union which takes centre stage but another national obsession - the health service.

 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has cast the Dec. 12 election as necessary to break the deadlock in parliament over Brexit, telling voters that only by returning his Conservatives with a majority can the country finally quit the European Union.

 

But many supporters of the opposition Labour Party, whose ambiguous position over Brexit has alienated some voters, believe the best chance of winning power is to focus the debate on other issues.

 

The state-run National Health Service (NHS), which has provided free at the point of use healthcare for more than 70 years, is a hugely emotive issue. Opinion polls consistently show voters cite it as the second biggest issue after Brexit.

 

Struggling under the pressure of record demand due to a growing and ageing population, as well as cut backs to social care services, the NHS has warned it faces a shortfall in funding despite government promises of extra money.

 

Despite its cherished status, complaints about long waiting times for consultations and operations, crumbling hospitals and staff shortages are a regular feature of public discourse.

Labour plan to make the NHS a big part of their campaign.

 

“This government has put our NHS into crisis, and this election is a once-in-a-generation chance to end privatisation in our NHS, give it the funding it needs,” Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Wednesday, attacking Johnson in parliament.

 

Corbyn’s central charge: the NHS is at risk of being sold off to American corporations in any post-Brexit trade deal Johnson’s government does with U.S. President Donald Trump.

 

“Labour won’t let Donald Trump get his hands on our National Health Service,” Corbyn said to cheers from the audience at his campaign launch in southwest London on Thursday.

 

“Quite bluntly, it’s not for sale,” he said, as the crowd rose to its feet and chanted: “Not for sale, not for sale.”

 

Johnson has repeatedly said the NHS would not be on the table in any trade talks but opposition lawmakers say they do not trust him.

 

Trump, who said during a visit to Britain in June that everything including health would be on the table in trade talks but then backtracked and said health would not be, told LBC radio that Corbyn’s claim was ridiculous and he did not know where it came from.

 

Asked about whether the health service would be up for grabs in trade talks, Trump said: “No, not at all, we wouldn’t even be involved in that, no.”

 

“No. It’s not for us to have anything to do with your healthcare system,” he said. “No, we’re just talking about trade.”

 

WINTER CRISIS?

 

The face of a “Leave” campaign which promised to spend the money Britain sends to the EU on the NHS instead, Johnson’s message to voters is he would deliver Brexit so Britain can move on to focus on priorities such as health, education and policing.

 

“BackBoris for more NHS funding so that you and your family get the care you need,” the Conservatives said on Twitter, as Johnson visited a hospital on his first day of campaigning. He has done at least 9 hospital visits since taking office in July.

 

During one such visit he was confronted by a Labour activist and father of a sick child, who said the care his baby daughter had received had not been acceptable and that the health service had been destroyed by the Conservatives.

 

The NHS led two newspaper front pages on Thursday, with the Labour-supporting Daily Mirror splashing: “Election warning: Boris and Trump plot NHS sell-off”, while the pro-Conservative Daily Mail read: “Poll: Boris more trusted than Corbyn on NHS”.

 

Created by a Labour government in 1948, the NHS is one of the biggest employers in the world and in 2019-20 is due to account for 166 billion pounds ($215.04 billion), or around 20 percent, of Britain’s annual public spending.

 

It has traditionally been strong ground for Labour, with polls usually showing them as more trusted on the NHS. A December election, Britain’s first winter vote since 1923, could play to that strength.

 

Pressure on the NHS increases during the winter months, adding to public concern and fuelling newspaper headlines about the annual “NHS winter crisis”.

 

“Most years you see a spike in the issues tracker for the NHS in the winter months as you get stories about winter crisis, waiting times going up,” said Chris Curtis, Political Research Manager at polling firm YouGov.

 

YouGov’s latest research showed 32 percent of voters viewed Labour as best able to handle the NHS, versus 26 percent for the Conservatives. In contrast, just 9 percent believed Labour was best on Brexit, compared to 24 percent for the Conservatives.

 

“It is much better for Labour to be focusing on the NHS than it is for them to be focusing on Brexit,” said Curtis. “It is very likely that that could end up helping Labour in this campaign.”

 

Many opinion polls give Johnson’s Conservatives a double digit lead over Labour, but it is early days in a six-week campaign.

 

At the last snap election, in 2017, Johnson’s predecessor Theresa May saw her party’s large poll lead all but evaporate during the campaign, ultimately losing her small majority in parliament on election day.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-11-01

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I have a couple of American friends and they think the NHS is fantastic compared to the US option that can bankrupt you even if you're insured.

I'd never vote for the Tories as they'd sell it out to the US healthcare conglomerates.

44 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

The NHS led two newspaper front pages on Thursday, with the Labour-supporting Daily Mirror splashing: “Election warning: Boris and Trump plot NHS sell-off”,

while visiting the UK and the potential for a deal between UK / US Trump was clear it's all or nothing ..... Tories should know, Boris would sell his mother for a quid, can't be trusted

As Johnson tried to sneak out of Addenbrooke's after poncing on it to promote his NHS is safe in our hands lie one plucky junior doctor had a go .......

 

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/student-doctor-boris-johnson-cowardly-17180585

 

 

As I said at the time.

 

I volunteered to Labour’s campaign at the last election, I spoke directly to hundreds of voters, Brexit was way way way behind health care and the NHS in the concerns they expressed.

 

Expats in Thailand who were not in the UK during that election may of course have a different view..

er.....can i suggest based on this interview that this article is spurious.
 

 

22 minutes ago, wombat said:

er.....can i suggest based on this interview that this article is spurious.
 

I refuse to watch 2 of the most obnoxious people on the planet licking each other's testicles for 2 hours. Can you give us a precis?

13 minutes ago, DannyCarlton said:

I refuse to watch 2 of the most obnoxious people on the planet licking each other's testicles for 2 hours. Can you give us a precis?

While I agree, I am very much in favour of Farage and Johnson being closely associated with Trump. The closer the better. 

7 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

While I agree, I am very much in favour of Farage and Johnson being closely associated with Trump. The closer the better. 

The Magi, Farage, Trump and the Undead according to all howling Brexiteers.

11 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

While I agree, I am very much in favour of Farage and Johnson being closely associated with Trump. The closer the better. 

Say whatever you like it's doubtful Labour will win and scaremongering about the NHS is just lies and you know it. I'd be staggered if Corbyn got anywhere near becoming PM.

1 minute ago, BobBKK said:

scaremongering about the NHS is just lies and you know it.

Afraid not. Ask someone who works in the NHS. The problems in the NHS are totally down to underfunding by successive tory governments.

16 hours ago, edwinchester said:

I have a couple of American friends and they think the NHS is fantastic compared to the US option that can bankrupt you even if you're insured.

I'd never vote for the Tories as they'd sell it out to the US healthcare conglomerates.

Maybe you could be informed before spouting such drivel.

It was Labour who entered the country into the PFI scheme

Hospital trusts are being crippled by the private finance initiative and will have to make another £55bn in payments by the time the last contract ends in 2050.

Some hospitals are paying 1/6th of their budget on repayments!

Just now, DannyCarlton said:

Afraid not. Ask someone who works in the NHS. The problems in the NHS are totally down to underfunding by successive tory governments.

I worked in the NHS for most of my career. This scaremongering goes back to the 1980s. No Tory government would ever dare to dismantle the NHS and 'sell out' to the USA. 

The NHS is free 'at point of delivery' and is hugely expensive catering to just about anybody who walks in the door. It needs controlling. 

1 minute ago, DannyCarlton said:

Afraid not. Ask someone who works in the NHS. The problems in the NHS are totally down to underfunding by successive tory governments.

Absolute rubbish.

The dross you churn out on a daily basis is nauseating.

My sister has a top position in the NHS and it's absolutely nothing to do with the last 9 years of Tory govt.

Fallacious <deleted>............ just for a change

Just now, BobBKK said:

I worked in the NHS for most of my career. This scaremongering goes back to the 1980s. No Tory government would ever dare to dismantle the NHS and 'sell out' to the USA. 

The NHS is free 'at point of delivery' and is hugely expensive catering to just about anybody who walks in the door. It needs controlling. 

My wife, daughter and son in law are all currently working in the NHS. They would disagree with you.

 

Johnson will sell out to the USA.

 

He's desparately trying to sell out the British economy to aid his backers. The NHS is a mere bagatelle to him.

Just now, BobBKK said:

I worked in the NHS for most of my career. This scaremongering goes back to the 1980s. No Tory government would ever dare to dismantle the NHS and 'sell out' to the USA. 

The NHS is free 'at point of delivery' and is hugely expensive catering to just about anybody who walks in the door. It needs controlling. 

When Beveridge wrote his report in wartime about health he couldn't envisage the scenario of today. 

Bevan implemented it in the late 40's when there was virtually zero immigration too, so he couldn't have foreseen the strain that would have been put on it by a surging population.

It helped women and children immensely who had suffered badly pre NHS as they found it hard to get affordable healthcare.

 

There is a serious amount of waste and bureaucracy to this day.

15 hours ago, beautifulthailand99 said:

As Johnson tried to sneak out of Addenbrooke's after poncing on it to promote his NHS is safe in our hands lie one plucky junior doctor had a go .......

 

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/student-doctor-boris-johnson-cowardly-17180585

 

 

Must be true then, from the Guardian. Another labour activist trying to gain political points

3 minutes ago, Sticky Wicket said:

Absolute rubbish.

The dross you churn out on a daily basis is nauseating.

My sister has a top position in the NHS and it's absolutely nothing to do with the last 9 years of Tory govt.

Fallacious <deleted>............ just for a change

MY wife, daughter and son in law all work in the NHS. I presume your sister is admin. Another longstanding problem for the NHS.

13 minutes ago, BobBKK said:

Say whatever you like it's doubtful Labour will win and scaremongering about the NHS is just lies and you know it. I'd be staggered if Corbyn got anywhere near becoming PM.

They will struggle to get 150 seats

3 minutes ago, DannyCarlton said:

The dross you churn out on a daily basis is nauseating.

That is exclusively the preserve of Brexiteers, I'm a remainer.

Just now, DannyCarlton said:

MY wife, daughter and son in law all work in the NHS. I presume your sister is admin. Another longstanding problem for the NHS.

No she's not, she's trying to make it run smoother throughout the country.

It's an almost impossible task and money is not the issue

The budget is £139,000,000,000 for one year!!

3 minutes ago, DannyCarlton said:

That is exclusively the preserve of Brexiteers, I'm a remainer.

Never, I can't believe that!!

The word remainer is obsolete so you can stop using it now

1 minute ago, DannyCarlton said:

MY wife, daughter and son in law all work in the NHS. I presume your sister is admin. Another longstanding problem for the NHS.

I guess your one of the people who thinks the NHS doesn't need managing then?  I hold a masters degree in health management (MSc) and I was a full member of the Institute of Health Care Managers and I think I might know something about the subject. It is true that many health care professionals are great at their subject, and I would not think to give medical advice, but are purely ignorant when it comes to managing health care. It is a puerile argument to suggest it's 'admins' fault. It is the weak legislators fault for allowing free health care for anyone outside of UK.

There is no doubt the NHS is the envy of the world but we give an inch and they take a mile. It needs strict management and Labour never did that.

1 minute ago, BobBKK said:

I guess your one of the people who thinks the NHS doesn't need managing then?  I hold a masters degree in health management (MSc) and I was a full member of the Institute of Health Care Managers and I think I might know something about the subject. It is true that many health care professionals are great at their subject, and I would not think to give medical advice, but are purely ignorant when it comes to managing health care. It is a puerile argument to suggest it's 'admins' fault. It is the weak legislators fault for allowing free health care for anyone outside of UK.

There is no doubt the NHS is the envy of the world but we give an inch and they take a mile. It needs strict management and Labour never did that.

Well said Bob!

Trump and his insurance buddies don't want all the NHS from Boris. Just the healthy and wealthy ones. 

2 hours ago, DannyCarlton said:

I refuse to watch 2 of the most obnoxious people on the planet licking each other's testicles for 2 hours. Can you give us a precis?

Licking each other's testicles? I must have seen the censored version.

2 hours ago, DannyCarlton said:

That is exclusively the preserve of Brexiteers, I'm a remainer.

Message to self.

Trump needs to stay out of the UK's affairs, particularly during the election period. 

Almost unheard of for a foreign head of state to actually be supporting one specific candidate. Especially recommending that Johnson joins up with Farage.

I only hope that the British people realise what would happen to the NHS if Trump is allowed to get his grubby paws on it. More unaffordable treatment and care for the British people.

Hardly surprising that many Americans go over the border to Canada to purchase their insulin requirements where it is apparently 15 times cheaper than in their own country.

I agree with the premise, only two things I care about - the NHS and the exchange rate. 

1 hour ago, Jonnapat said:

Trump needs to stay out of the UK's affairs, particularly during the election period. 

Almost unheard of for a foreign head of state to actually be supporting one specific candidate. Especially recommending that Johnson joins up with Farage.

I only hope that the British people realise what would happen to the NHS if Trump is allowed to get his grubby paws on it. More unaffordable treatment and care for the British people.

Hardly surprising that many Americans go over the border to Canada to purchase their insulin requirements where it is apparently 15 times cheaper than in their own country.

Almost unheard of..yes..except for Obama's direct supporting of the remain option and the EU in 2106.