Theresa May’s promise of funding NHS through ‘Brexit dividend’ dismissed as ‘tosh’ by senior Tory

The Prime Minister was accused of being misleading over the details behind the health service boost.
PM: Theresa May speaking on the Marr Show about extra funding for the NHS
REUTERS
Chloe Chaplain17 June 2018
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A senior Tory has dismissed Theresa May’s pledge that the “Brexit dividend” will pay for extra NHS funding and accused her of treating the public “like fools” over the lack of clear costing announced.

The Prime Minister announced on Sunday that the NHS will receive an additional £20 billion a year in real terms funding by 2024.

In an interview with Andrew Marr, Mrs May referred to an unspecified “sum of money” that would be “available from the European Union”, but was vague about where the rest of the funding and hinted it would come from higher taxation.

But critics pointed out that the EU money has already been earmarked by the Government and suggested she was misleading the public over where the money would come from.

Commons Health Committee chairwoman Sarah Wollaston branded the “dividend” talk “tosh” and said she was sad to see the Government "slide to populist arguments".

Health service: The NHS is set to get a £20bn boost, but the PM has been vague about where the money will come from
PA

Ms Wollaston tweeted: "The Brexit dividend tosh was expected but treats the public as fools. Sad to see Govt slide to populist arguments rather than evidence on such an important issue.

“This will make it harder to have a rational debate about the 'who & how' of funding & sharing this fairly."

Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Paul Johnson, also Tweeted to say “there is no Brexit dividend”.

“Extra spending can't be funded by Brexit dividend,” he wrote. “1) Govt has accepted Brexit will *weaken* public finances by £15bn pa…

“2) Financial settlement with EU plus commitments to replace EU funding already uses up all of our EU contributions in 2022.”

British Medical Association (BMA) chairman Dr Chaand Nagpaul said the announcement was “refreshing” but added: "However, we will be scrutinising the detail of this new package of funding to assess the degree to which it will make a real difference in both the short and long term to frontline patient care."

The Prime Minister said the NHS will see a weekly increase of £384 million in real terms, and £600 million a week in cash terms compared with now.

In her BBC interview, Mrs May she said: "Some people may remember seeing a figure on the side of a bus a while back of £350m a week in cash.

Mrs May announced the funding boost in an interview pre-recorded at her country residence Chequers in Buckinghamshire
REUTERS

"I can tell you that what I'm announcing will mean that in 2023-24 there will be about £600m a week, more in cash, going into the NHS.

"That will be through the Brexit dividend. The fact that we're no longer sending vast amounts of money every year to the EU once we leave the EU."

Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip arrive for a church service near to her Maidenhead constituency on Sunday
PA

Mrs May said the money, which would not be used for social care, would amount to an increase of 3.4 per cent, and said the country would also have to "contribute a bit more" to health service funding.

Asked where the non-"Brexit dividend" element of the funding would come, Mrs May said: "As a country we will be contributing more, a bit more, but also we will have that sum of money that is available from the European Union."

It is expected that taxes and borrowing will rise to pay for the increase in funding, and resources will be redirected from the more than £9 billion a year the UK currently pays into the EU.

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