Labour

Lib Dems must get off the fence and decide where they stand on NHS - Burnham

Andy Burnham MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, responding to comments on the NHS Bill by Tim Farron, said:

“This surprise admission from the President of the Liberal Democrats will cause huge consternation across the NHS.

“NHS staff will be entitled to ask why Mr Farron's Party have gone along with this Bill for so long when it is clear that, in private, senior Lib Dems don't support it. One can only conclude that they haven't got the guts to say what needs to be said to Mr Cameron's face.

“It seems Lib Dems have different views in private on the Bill than what they say in public. They promise yet more face-saving amendments yet know in their heart of hearts that they won't do the job.

“The Lib Dems have had their chance and it's just not good enough for them to be promising yet more amendments today. That time has passed; this mess of a Bill is unamendable. Lib Dems must get off the fence and decide where they stand: with the millions of staff and patients who can see the damage this Bill will do to the NHS?; or with a right-wing Tory Party that has long harboured the ambition to turn the NHS into a free market?

“The truth is that Lib Dems have supported this damaging Bill every step of the way in Parliament. In being too weak to stand up to the Tories, they have let the NHS down badly.”

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