Theresa May announces an extra £20 billion a year for the NHS
Well, you can argue until the cows come home about whether it's a "Brexit dividend" or not, but the important thing is that NHS is going to get the money promised on the side of that bus and a bit more.
My reason for welcoming this is not because I think the message on the bus was right, but because I think our health services do needs the money to cope with increased demand.
Theresa May has announced another £20 billion a year of new money - a 3.6% increase in real terms by 2023/4, slightly more than the £350 million a week on the side of the bus - for the NHS. She writes about it in the Mail on Sunday today, and here is an extract from her article.
"On the day I became Prime Minister, I said my Government would be driven not by the interests of a privileged few but by those of ordinary working people. Nothing matters more to the British people than our NHS. That’s why I will always put it first.
We never know when we, or a loved one, might need the NHS, and we all sleep easier in our beds because it is there for us. World-class medical care, free at the point of use, is part of the social fabric of this country.
This year, as we celebrate its 70th birthday, I am determined to take action to secure our NHS for generations to come. To do so, we will deliver a long-term plan for the NHS, and this week I will be setting out the principles that will guide it. It will be a serious plan for the future, led by the NHS itself, backed by new investment.
The NHS budget today is £14 billion higher than it was eight years ago. Even as we have taken the difficult decisions to repair our economy, we have continued to increase NHS spending. But in the meantime, the demands on the NHS have continued to grow.
We are living longer and asking more of the NHS. New drugs and treatments are constantly being developed that we rightly expect our NHS to provide for us, but which come at a cost. And too often, our dedicated NHS staff are let down by waste and bureaucracy that drain resources that should go to the front line. Our long-term plan for the NHS will address each of these challenges and give doctors and nurses the resources they need to deliver first-class care.
For too long, Governments have funded the NHS in fits and starts, leaving it unable to plan ahead. I am determined to change that. So tomorrow I will set out a new five-year budget settlement, in return for a plan to deliver our vision of a better NHS.
Under our plan, by 2023-24, the NHS budget will increase compared to today by over £20 billion a year in real terms, which is approximately £600 million a week in cash terms.
When I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes it came as a shock. I did not know what the impact would be on my life, or whether it would affect my ability to do my job. In that moment, the NHS was there for me, just as it has been for millions of others over seven decades. It helps me every step of the way. With the NHS on my side, I can manage my condition, live a normal life and get on with my job. By delivering a long-term plan for our NHS’s future – and backing it with the money it needs to – we can make sure the NHS continues to be there for all of us. "
My reason for welcoming this is not because I think the message on the bus was right, but because I think our health services do needs the money to cope with increased demand.
Theresa May has announced another £20 billion a year of new money - a 3.6% increase in real terms by 2023/4, slightly more than the £350 million a week on the side of the bus - for the NHS. She writes about it in the Mail on Sunday today, and here is an extract from her article.
"On the day I became Prime Minister, I said my Government would be driven not by the interests of a privileged few but by those of ordinary working people. Nothing matters more to the British people than our NHS. That’s why I will always put it first.
We never know when we, or a loved one, might need the NHS, and we all sleep easier in our beds because it is there for us. World-class medical care, free at the point of use, is part of the social fabric of this country.
This year, as we celebrate its 70th birthday, I am determined to take action to secure our NHS for generations to come. To do so, we will deliver a long-term plan for the NHS, and this week I will be setting out the principles that will guide it. It will be a serious plan for the future, led by the NHS itself, backed by new investment.
The NHS budget today is £14 billion higher than it was eight years ago. Even as we have taken the difficult decisions to repair our economy, we have continued to increase NHS spending. But in the meantime, the demands on the NHS have continued to grow.
We are living longer and asking more of the NHS. New drugs and treatments are constantly being developed that we rightly expect our NHS to provide for us, but which come at a cost. And too often, our dedicated NHS staff are let down by waste and bureaucracy that drain resources that should go to the front line. Our long-term plan for the NHS will address each of these challenges and give doctors and nurses the resources they need to deliver first-class care.
For too long, Governments have funded the NHS in fits and starts, leaving it unable to plan ahead. I am determined to change that. So tomorrow I will set out a new five-year budget settlement, in return for a plan to deliver our vision of a better NHS.
Under our plan, by 2023-24, the NHS budget will increase compared to today by over £20 billion a year in real terms, which is approximately £600 million a week in cash terms.
When I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes it came as a shock. I did not know what the impact would be on my life, or whether it would affect my ability to do my job. In that moment, the NHS was there for me, just as it has been for millions of others over seven decades. It helps me every step of the way. With the NHS on my side, I can manage my condition, live a normal life and get on with my job. By delivering a long-term plan for our NHS’s future – and backing it with the money it needs to – we can make sure the NHS continues to be there for all of us. "
Comments
It's apparently to be funded by a mix of borrowing, more money raised from taxes, and the "Brexit dividend" of no longer having to make payments to the EU.
This is of course a larger increase than the one on the side of that silly bus, so the Brexiteers will be able to tell anyone who voted Leave for extra NHS spending that they've actually given the NHS the extra money Leave voters may feel they were promised. I suspect expect most Remain voters and indeed intelligent leave voters like yourself will know damn well that most if not all of the extra money has come from taxes or borrowing.
I'm hoping that the extra money from tax revenues will come from the "stabilisers" e.g. tax revenue going up disproportionately as income grows or from cutting tax rates so the economy grows and the total tax take increases.
This reply is of course my own personal opinion and not official government or Conservative party policy. We're going to have to wait and see where the money actually comes from.