Two Bristol candidates in the general election traded blows on the weekend over how to fix the NHS. The health service will be one of the key issues for many voters in the upcoming election on Thursday, July 4.
Karin Smyth, the incumbent candidate for Bristol South and Labour shadow health minister, claimed the Green Party’s investment plans were similar to Liz Truss’s infamous mini-budget. The Greens want to increase NHS spending by an extra £28 billion by 2030.
She was joined on the BBC ’s Politics West programme on Sunday, June 16 by Carla Denyer, the Green candidate for Bristol Central and co-leader of the Green Party. Ms Denyer defended her party’s plans and claimed a Labour government would result in cuts to the health service.
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Ms Denyer said: “Did you see the Nuffield Trust assessment of the Labour and Conservative NHS investment plans? They said that both of them were unrealistic and would result in cuts, even related to the current spending. The Nuffield Trust has been clear that neither Labour nor the Conservatives are offering the investment needed.
“Our manifesto is fully costed and fully funded. The Green Party is the only party that is prepared to be honest in this election about the scale of investment that’s needed to fix our crumbling public services, whether it’s schools or NHS and social care. That’s by adjusting our tax system to make sure that those with the broadest shoulders can most afford to pay.”
The Nuffield Trust, an independent think tank, analysed both manifestos from Labour and the Conservatives, and found that the NHS would be left with lower spending increases than during the years of Tory austerity. This would leave the NHS struggling to pay existing staff costs, despite plans to increase the numbers of doctors and nurses.
According to the analysis, NHS funding would increase every year by 1.5 per cent under the Liberal Democrats, 0.9 per cent for the Conservatives, and 1.1 per cent for Labour. The Labour Party is planning to invest £2 billion into the health service, paid for by “clamping down on tax dodgers” — but to put that into perspective, the annual NHS budget for England is £165 billion.
Greens say they will push for a year-on-year reduction in waiting lists, guaranteed access to an NHS dentist, guaranteed rapid access to a GP, and a pay rise for NHS staff. They would spend an extra £8 billion in the first full year of the next parliament, rising to £28 billion in total by 2030. Part of their huge investment would be funded by a new wealth tax, on assets over £10 million.
However Ms Smyth denied that the Greens’ manifesto was fully funded and costed. She also claimed the Green Party’s plans were similar to the Conservative mini-budget in 2022, which sparked a crisis in the bond market and led to a huge increase in interest rates and mortgage costs.
She said: “Your manifesto is like the Liz Truss sort of thing. It’s going to scare everybody off and is absolutely not fully funded and fully costed. It’s not realistic. All of your plans are like Liz Truss mark two. It’s scaring everybody, absolutely. We’ve heard a lot of nonsense that doesn’t get challenged.”
Labour said they would cut NHS waiting times with 40,000 more appointments every week, double the number of cancer scanners, launch a new dentistry rescue plan, and employ an additional 8,500 mental health staff. They would also bring in a “return of the family doctor”.
Also on the programme was Claire Young, the Liberal Democrat candidate for Thornbury and Yate and the leader of South Gloucestershire Council. She said her party would close capital gains loopholes and “move taxes away from hard-working families”.
Meg Powell-Chandler, the Conservative candidate for Wells and Mendip Hills, said it was “easy for the Greens or the Liberal Democrats to snipe from the sidelines”, as they were unlikely to be in government. She added: “They can promise the world because they’ll never have to deliver.”
