Adam Harmsworth, Coventry Socialist Party
Labour’s shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, has criticised the Tories for not using enough of the private health sector to tackle NHS waiting lists.
Over 7.3 million people are now waiting for NHS treatment. That is millions of people living in pain with health issues, and even in fear, as untreated health problems worsen. In March, 19,200 cancer patients were waiting over 62 days for treatment.
Labour’s plan is to “use the spare capacity in the private sector to get patients seen faster”. The Socialist Party happily supports making use of vital resources being hoarded by the private sector.
But why should these privatising vultures be allowed to make profit out of patients? Instead, bring them into public ownership, with no compensation to the fat cats.
Labour’s approach is a blank cheque to the private companies. Streeting has praised the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown for using the private health sector.
Blairite privatisation helped set up the NHS crisis we face today. The NHS still doles out around £2 billion a year to PFI profiteers.
Wasted
Ten NHS trusts spend more than 10% of their income on PFI privatisation repayments. That money should be going to proper wages, decent staffing, and resources and infrastructure that health workers are crying out for.
When the NHS is struggling like never before, Labour’s policy is to set it up for even greater crisis by throwing yet more public money at private health profiteers.
This is the latest move by Keir Starmer’s Labour to try and ‘out-Tory’ the Tories! Starmer wants to make it clear to the bosses that the Jeremy Corbyn era is over, and that Labour is a pro-capitalist party for ever.
Streeting has repeatedly attacked the health unions for their strike action and pay claims. On the junior doctors, he said: “I don’t support the strike”.
Labour is promising more NHS privatisation, and has ruled out the massive increase in investment in healthcare that the NHS needs. Labour refuses to say it would match the pay rise demands of striking NHS workers if in government, which are definitely needed to begin to solve the staffing crisis.
Now, no major party stands up for the NHS. We need a new mass workers’ party that fights for inflation-busting pay rises, fully funded public services, and a fully public NHS run by workers, patients and communities to meet our needs
