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| Heidi Alexander: Brexit would blow £10.5bn hole in NHS budget | Heidi Alexander: Brexit would blow £10.5bn hole in NHS budget |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A British exit from the EU would starve hospitals of European doctors and nurses and blow a £10.5bn hole in the NHS budget, according to the shadow health secretary, Heidi Alexander. | A British exit from the EU would starve hospitals of European doctors and nurses and blow a £10.5bn hole in the NHS budget, according to the shadow health secretary, Heidi Alexander. |
| The Labour frontbencher said she believed there was an urgent need to set out the benefits of immigration, pointing out that 52,000 non-British Europeans work in the NHS, rising to 130,000 when care workers are included. | The Labour frontbencher said she believed there was an urgent need to set out the benefits of immigration, pointing out that 52,000 non-British Europeans work in the NHS, rising to 130,000 when care workers are included. |
| Alexander, who will make her case during a speech on Wednesday at Unison’s headquarters in central London, pointed to a fresh analysis by the House of Commons library based on the “worst-case scenario” for public finances after a British exit, set out by the Institute for Fiscal Studies. That concluded the Department of Health’s budget would be cut by £10.5bn by 2019-20. | |
| Related: Don’t doubt it. Brexit would hurt the NHS | Zara Aziz | Related: Don’t doubt it. Brexit would hurt the NHS | Zara Aziz |
| “If the government decide to stick to [the] commitment to balance the books, not to raise taxes, and not to take more money out of the welfare budget ... that would mean every hospital trust in the country cutting 1,000 nurses or 155 doctors,” said Alexander. | “If the government decide to stick to [the] commitment to balance the books, not to raise taxes, and not to take more money out of the welfare budget ... that would mean every hospital trust in the country cutting 1,000 nurses or 155 doctors,” said Alexander. |
| The MP will reject the suggestion made by Vote Leave that leaving the EU would reduce hospital waiting times and overcrowding. The out campaign has said it would redirect money sent to Brussels to the NHS. | The MP will reject the suggestion made by Vote Leave that leaving the EU would reduce hospital waiting times and overcrowding. The out campaign has said it would redirect money sent to Brussels to the NHS. |
| “I think it is misleading, simplistic and complete and utter nonsense. You are a lot more likely to come across a migrant in a hospital who is caring for you than one who is in the bed next to you,” Alexander said. | “I think it is misleading, simplistic and complete and utter nonsense. You are a lot more likely to come across a migrant in a hospital who is caring for you than one who is in the bed next to you,” Alexander said. |
| “I think of my own family. Two years ago my gran passed away and who was the person who sat by her bedside and dabbed water on her lips in the days before she passed away? It was a Polish care assistant called Kristina. We have to be honest about the benefits that migrants have brought to the country.” | “I think of my own family. Two years ago my gran passed away and who was the person who sat by her bedside and dabbed water on her lips in the days before she passed away? It was a Polish care assistant called Kristina. We have to be honest about the benefits that migrants have brought to the country.” |
| Alexander hit out at Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, saying she found it “utterly astonishing” that they were depicting people like her as the “elite establishment that has been brainwashed by Brussels bureaucrats”. | Alexander hit out at Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, saying she found it “utterly astonishing” that they were depicting people like her as the “elite establishment that has been brainwashed by Brussels bureaucrats”. |
| “My view of the world is informed by going to a comprehensive school in Swindon, in contrast to them. I’m the daughter of an electrician, my mum was a dinner lady, I didn’t go to Eton, I didn’t have those privileges,” she said. | “My view of the world is informed by going to a comprehensive school in Swindon, in contrast to them. I’m the daughter of an electrician, my mum was a dinner lady, I didn’t go to Eton, I didn’t have those privileges,” she said. |
| Vote Leave accused the MP of “personal smears and overblown rhetoric” and said parts of the Labour party were in denial about the pressures of immigration. | Vote Leave accused the MP of “personal smears and overblown rhetoric” and said parts of the Labour party were in denial about the pressures of immigration. |
| Labour has come under pressure from remain campaigners who say the party must do more to mobilise its vote, amid fears that a campaign led by David Cameron could put off its supporters. A leaked memo from the remain camp suggested half of Labour voters did not know what its party’s position was, despite the fact that 214 of its 229 MPs are backing remain. | Labour has come under pressure from remain campaigners who say the party must do more to mobilise its vote, amid fears that a campaign led by David Cameron could put off its supporters. A leaked memo from the remain camp suggested half of Labour voters did not know what its party’s position was, despite the fact that 214 of its 229 MPs are backing remain. |
| Related: Burning anger in the land of Nye Bevan: why a Labour heartland is backing Brexit | Related: Burning anger in the land of Nye Bevan: why a Labour heartland is backing Brexit |
| Some have also criticised Jeremy Corbyn, claiming he has not been forthright enough on the issue. | Some have also criticised Jeremy Corbyn, claiming he has not been forthright enough on the issue. |
| The party says it has already distributed 8.5m leaflets, hand-delivered by volunteers, but now plans to issue a further 8m alongside 1.3m direct mails that are already being used to target postal voters. There will also be a doubling of the digital strategy, through social media sites such as Facebook. | The party says it has already distributed 8.5m leaflets, hand-delivered by volunteers, but now plans to issue a further 8m alongside 1.3m direct mails that are already being used to target postal voters. There will also be a doubling of the digital strategy, through social media sites such as Facebook. |
| A senior remain source said: “There has been some criticism but Labour are really coming to the party now.” | A senior remain source said: “There has been some criticism but Labour are really coming to the party now.” |
| However, a senior figure in the party said that while many felt that the outcome would be a remain vote, they did not believe their own constituencies would swing in that direction. | However, a senior figure in the party said that while many felt that the outcome would be a remain vote, they did not believe their own constituencies would swing in that direction. |
| Despite the insistence of Vote Leave campaigners that those in Britain who are from outside the European Union will be able to remain, Alexander asked if that could change when they had to renew their visas in the future. | Despite the insistence of Vote Leave campaigners that those in Britain who are from outside the European Union will be able to remain, Alexander asked if that could change when they had to renew their visas in the future. |
| Alexander’s speech kicks off the final two weeks of activity in which there will be a major intervention every day, including from Corbyn, Angela Eagle, Hilary Benn, Tom Watson and others. | Alexander’s speech kicks off the final two weeks of activity in which there will be a major intervention every day, including from Corbyn, Angela Eagle, Hilary Benn, Tom Watson and others. |
| There will also be a push from trade unions, including Unison, where Alexander is delivering her speech and which represents nearly half a million health workers. | There will also be a push from trade unions, including Unison, where Alexander is delivering her speech and which represents nearly half a million health workers. |
| The union’s general secretary, Dave Prentis, said Vote Leave’s claims that the NHS would be “quids-in outside the EU are the stuff of nonsense”. | The union’s general secretary, Dave Prentis, said Vote Leave’s claims that the NHS would be “quids-in outside the EU are the stuff of nonsense”. |
| Alexander said that Vote Leave had started the campaign claiming that £350m sent to the EU each week could be spent on the NHS, but had later changed that to £100m. “So where will we be come the 23 June? At this rate there won’t be anything going into the NHS,” he said. | Alexander said that Vote Leave had started the campaign claiming that £350m sent to the EU each week could be spent on the NHS, but had later changed that to £100m. “So where will we be come the 23 June? At this rate there won’t be anything going into the NHS,” he said. |
| A Vote Leave spokesman said the remain campaign was looking “increasingly desperate”. He said the IFS and House of Commons research was not original and made “the same dodgy assumptions of establishment economists and the Treasury”. | A Vote Leave spokesman said the remain campaign was looking “increasingly desperate”. He said the IFS and House of Commons research was not original and made “the same dodgy assumptions of establishment economists and the Treasury”. |
| The spokesman said Brexit would mean no longer sending £350m to the EU, of which only half comes back. “It is clear that the NHS benefits from having talented nurses and doctors but our immigration system makes it harder to bring those professionals in from across the world while increasing pressures in the waiting room,” he added. | The spokesman said Brexit would mean no longer sending £350m to the EU, of which only half comes back. “It is clear that the NHS benefits from having talented nurses and doctors but our immigration system makes it harder to bring those professionals in from across the world while increasing pressures in the waiting room,” he added. |