The former surgeon expressed ‘genuine alarm’ that Reform’s plans could mark the end of the NHS
Labour MP and former surgeon Peter Prinsley has delivered a stark warning to voters, expressing “genuine concern” at Reform’s plans to switch to funding the NHS through private health insurance rather than taxes.
At PMQs today, Prinsley, who recently received NHS treatment for a broken wrist, thanked NHS staff and commended the government for rebuilding the NHS “after years of neglect” under the Tories.
Prinsley asked: “Does the prime minister share my genuine alarm as a surgeon who has worked at the frontline for more than 40 years that the vague social insurance proposals of some of our opponents would be the end of our NHS.”
He said that the plans would also “seriously threaten the health and wellbeing of millions of our fellow citizens”.
The prime minister responded by saying that Prinsley “obviously speaks with authority on our NHS” and that he was “right to point out that waiting lists are at their lowest for three years”.
Starmer said “That is because of the investment we’ve put in and they [the Conservatives] opposed.”
The PM continued: “But I wonder how much my honourable friend would have been charged if he had arrived at a Reform hospital under an insurance-based scheme.
“That would turn the clock back. The NHS is on the road to recovery, don’t risk it with Reform.”
Nigel Farage has repeatedly said he would consider changing how the NHS is funded to a private health insurance system.
Speaking to LBC last January, Farage said he would be “open to anything” when it comes to replacing the NHS with “an insurance-based model”.
In May last year, he also told Sky News’ Beth Rigby that he didn’t want the NHS to be funded “through general taxation”.
As UKIP leader in 2012, Farage said: “I think we’re going to have to move to an insurance-based system of healthcare.”
In 2015, he said that the idea of replacing the NHS with an insurance-based system was “a debate that we’re all going to have to return to”.
At the 2024 general election, Reform pledged to offer tax relief of 20% on private healthcare policies if the party won power.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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