The Conservative Mindset......A Postcard from Great Britain

The Conservative leader in the UK introduces a plan to exempt the National Health Service from spending cuts.....and his fellow party members call for his head.



from the Independent UK:



Tory MPs revolt over Cameron's NHS plans
Majority of backbenchers oppose leader's proposal to exempt hospitals from cuts

By Andrew Grice, Political Editor
Monday, 24 August 2009


David Cameron faces a revolt by his own MPs over his flagship policy to raise National Health Service spending by a level above inflation each year.

Two-thirds of Tory backbenchers oppose his plan to exempt healthcare from any spending cuts that an incoming Conservative Government would make to tackle the "black hole" in the public finances. Mr Cameron could come under pressure to rethink his strategy if he becomes prime minister, a poll by ComRes suggests.

Asked whether the NHS should receive guaranteed spending increases in real terms during the course of the next Parliament, 29 per cent of Tory MPs agreed and 62 per cent disagreed. Only 33 per cent believed the current NHS model, funded from general taxation and free at the point of delivery, was sustainable for the next 60 years, while 62 per cent did not.

The poll will fuel the debate within the Conservative ranks about Mr Cameron's decision to spare health from the squeeze that other major Whitehall departments would face.

Tory MPs want him to make a stronger commitment to reforming the NHS, but he also faces pressure to reassure voters that the system would be safe in his hands, after Daniel Hannan, the outspoken Tory MEP for South-East England, described the NHS as a "60-year mistake". .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tory-mps-revolt-over-camerons-nhs-plans-1776478.html