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Cameron 'faces fight for his life' over NHS - Burnham Simon Hughes: Andrew Lansley should go after NHS change
(about 2 hours later)
  
David Cameron is "putting political pride" before the best interests of the NHS, said shadow health secretary Andy Burnham. Health Secretary Andrew Lansley should "move on" from his role after NHS reforms in England are completed, Lib Dem deputy leader Simon Hughes says.
He said Labour would give Mr Cameron the "fight of his life" unless he toned down the Health and Social Care bill. The prime minister has backed Mr Lansley, amid reports three Tory ministers privately attacked his handling of the issue.
Mr Burnham told the BBC's Andrew Marr show he believed the bill for England would not be passed. Mr Hughes said the Bill would be better after changes made in the Lords, but still not what "we would have wanted".
Mr Cameron has backed Health Secretary Andrew Lansley following speculation about his future due to the furore. Labour says the PM has put "political pride" before the NHS's best interests.
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Simon Hughes told the programme it might be for the best if Mr Lansley moved after the health reforms were in place. The href="http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2010-11/healthandsocialcare.html" >Health and Social Care Bill aims to overhaul the way the NHS in England works, giving GPs more control of the NHS budget and boost the private sector's role.
"My political judgment is that in the second half of the parliament it would be better to move on," he told the programme. Bodies such as the British Medical Association and Royal College of Nursing remain opposed to the reforms, despite concessions from ministers. However, NHS trusts and chief executives have backed the plans.
But Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt supported Mr Lansley, saying he believed he would eventually be seen "as the architect of the modern NHS". 'Not wanted'
'Tooth and nail' Mr Hughes, a senior Lib Dem who remains outside government, said amendments demanded by the House of Lords could get the bill "in better shape".
The href="http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2010-11/healthandsocialcare.html" >Health and Social Care Bill introduces the biggest shake-up since the founding of the NHS in 1948, putting GPs in control of much of its budget and encouraging greater competition with the private sector. But it was still "not the Bill we would have wanted", he said.
Mr Burnham said the Labour party would continue to oppose "tooth and nail" the contents of the bill. Asked about Mr Lansley's position, Mr Hughes told BBC1's Andrew Marr show it might be for the best if he changed roles - but only after the reforms were in place.
He said: "Mr Cameron is making a grave mistake by saying he is going to force it on to the statute book. He is putting his political pride before the best interests of the NHS." "My political judgment is that in the second half of the parliament it would be better to move on," he said.
"There are folk all over the country now fighting Mr Cameron's plans and I say to him, if he doesn't listen to what people are saying, we are going to give him the fight of his life. Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham vowed to give Mr Cameron the "fight of his life" unless he toned down the bill.
"Mr Cameron is making a grave mistake by saying he is going to force it on to the statute book," he told the BBC's Andrew Marr show.
Mr Burnham said he believed the bill - said to be proposing the biggest shake-up since the founding of the NHS in 1948 - would not be passed.
He said he was not against change but that the "back-room reforms" were a distraction from what the health service needed.He said he was not against change but that the "back-room reforms" were a distraction from what the health service needed.
"We've argued all along that the government made a catastrophic mistake when it combined the biggest financial challenge in the history of the NHS with the biggest ever reorganisation.""We've argued all along that the government made a catastrophic mistake when it combined the biggest financial challenge in the history of the NHS with the biggest ever reorganisation."
Bodies such as the British Medical Association and Royal College of Nursing remain opposed to the bill, despite concessions from ministers, although NHS trusts and chief executives have backed the plans. 'No alternative'
Mr Hughes, a senior Lib Dem who remains outside government, said amendments demanded by the House of Lords could get the bill "in better shape". His comments came after Mr Cameron accused Labour of opportunism over the issue.
But he added: "It is not the bill we would have wanted."
The latest comments come after Mr Cameron accused Labour of opportunism over the issue in a comment piece in the Sunday Times.
The prime minister also said he "was at one" with his health secretary and there was no alternative to the changes going through Parliament.The prime minister also said he "was at one" with his health secretary and there was no alternative to the changes going through Parliament.
"Choice, competition and transparency may unsettle some people," he wrote. "Choice, competition and transparency may unsettle some people," he wrote in a comment piece in the Sunday Times.
'The right thing'
"But it's these things at the heart of our reform that will lead to the better NHS I care about and our country deserves.""But it's these things at the heart of our reform that will lead to the better NHS I care about and our country deserves."
His intervention followed reports three Conservative cabinet ministers privately attacked Mr Lansley's handing of the bill, which applies to England. His intervention followed the report of three of his party's cabinet ministers criticising Mr Lansley's handing of the bill, which applies to England.
Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Conservative backbencher Nadine Dorries criticised the prime minister's approach. And writing in the Mail on Sunday, Conservative backbencher Nadine Dorries also criticised the prime minister's approach.
"It is clear that Cameron wants to kill his own NHS Bill - and Lansley's career with it." "It is clear that Cameron wants to kill his own NHS bill - and Lansley's career with it."
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles told BBC1's Sunday Politics: "I am not aware of any cabinet minister that has expressed reservations about the reforms." But Communities Secretary Eric Pickles told BBC1's Sunday Politics: "I am not aware of any cabinet minister that has expressed reservations about the reforms."
Mr Pickles dismissed backbenchers' concerns the reforms could cost the Conservatives a majority at the next general election, saying the party must "do the right thing". Mr Pickles dismissed backbenchers' concerns that the reforms could cost the Conservatives a majority at the next general election, saying the party must "do the right thing".
And Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt supported Mr Lansley, saying he believed he would eventually be seen "as the architect of the modern NHS".
Mr Hunt told the BBC Mr Lansley was the right person for the job and that it was wrong to judge someone who was "in the eye of the storm".Mr Hunt told the BBC Mr Lansley was the right person for the job and that it was wrong to judge someone who was "in the eye of the storm".