Farage admits he still wants a private NHS

Left Foot Forward

After backtracking on leaked comments last year, the UKIP leader tells Radio 4 he still supports privatising healthcare

 

UKIP leader Nigel Farage has again suggested that he would support privatising the the NHS. In an interview with BBC political editor Nick Robinson, Farage admitted that his party were not behind him on the issue but that he had not changed his opinion:

“I triggered a debate within UKIP that was outright rejected by my colleagues, so I have to accept that. As time goes on, this is a debate that we’re all going to have to return to.”

Farage was responding to Robinson’s questions about a film uncovered last November by the Guardian, in which he told UKIP supporters that the he believed the NHS would be better funded by an insurance based system. He said:

“There is no question that healthcare provision is going to have to be very much greater in 10 years than it is today, with an ageing population, and we’re going to have to find ways to do it.”

Andy Burnham MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary has responded to Farage’s comments:

“Nigel Farage has confirmed that a vote for UKIP is a vote for the privatisation of the NHS and for a full American healthcare system.

“Farage admits he says one thing in public about the NHS but another behind closed doors. He has shown UKIP’s statements on protecting the NHS to be hollow.
 
“UKIP claim to stand up for working people, but in reality they are more Tory than the Tories. Farage will never be able to distance himself from his real views. He should be honest with the public.”

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72 Responses to “Farage admits he still wants a private NHS”

  1. Xaider

    I guess it’s time you all get off your fantasy land high horse and realise the NHS is a failure. At least Private Hospitals and Doctors provide care worth paying for. The NHS is not free, we pay for it indirectly via taxes.

    By the way, his personal views are not a reflection of UKIP regardless of what they are.

    UKIP are for a free open NHS at the point of use.

    Something you should learn.

  2. Cole

    You just make this stuff up, don’t you?

  3. Cole

    Yes, let’s have a system like the US. Works so well: costs twice as much as the UK system and, even now, doesn’t cover everyone. Oh, and is pretty good at killing people unnecessary too

  4. Cole

    Its the right wingers who don’t care about the patients and want to take us back to the 30s – so they pay less tax and can make money out of healthcare. It’s not a secret.

  5. LB

    So what’s the death rates in the NHS and in US hospitals? How do the rates compare?

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