Liberal Democrats pledge to fund NHS 'in full' as public service faces a £8bn shortfall
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Version 0 of 1. The Liberal Democrat have promised to plug the £8 billion funding gap facing the NHS “in full” by ploughing the fruits of predicted economic growth into public services. Nick Clegg claimed that only his party was able to meet the multi-billion pound funding shortfall “in full” by 2020 - as NHS leaders warn the service will otherwise collapse. Chancellor George Osborne has announced an extra £2 billion for the NHS 2015/16 in the Autumn Statement, a pledge topped by Labour’s £2.5 bn towards the service. The Liberal Democrat leader, who has seen his popularity nosedive in recent months, claimed that neither plan is a credible attempt to save the NHS. The promises follow the release of a five-year plan, called the NHS Forward View, warning a £30bn shortfall in public health funding is expected during the next Parliament. A combination of measures, such as GPs offering hospital facilities, will bring the shortfall down but will still need above inflation rises of 1.5 per cent over the coming years. “We will set out in detail in the coming days how we will meet the funding gap,” Mr Clegg told the London Evening Standard yesterday. The Lib Dem leader explained that his party would top up the NHS with the £2 bn announced by Chancellor – but would then repeat the top up every year. However, it remains unclear where this money would come from in future. The party claims around £1 bn funding for the following year (2016-17) could be found in a pension tax relief for the wealthiest and a dividend tax squeeze on those earning more than £150,000. Ending the Conservative "shares for rights" policy would also bring in extra revenue. The majority of funding appears to come from the Lib Dems pledge to boost public spending in line with the recovering economy, a plan dependent on current projections made the Office of Budget Responsibility that appear to show improvement in the economy. In a press conference yesterday, Mr Clegg said: “The big, big difference between ourselves and Labour and the Conservatives is that we have said that once we have dealt with the structural deficit, once we have dealt with it in 2017-18, we will link the amount of money going into public services - including the NHS - to the growth of the economy.” Labour’s shadow health secretary Andy Burnham dismissed the announcement. "You can't trust a word the Lib Dems say and more empty promises from Nick Clegg are the last thing the NHS needs,” he claimed. |