Skip to main content
Scotland's NHS under threat from the Tories and the SNP, Scottish Labour warns
Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard (front centre left) with the party's candidate for Airdrie and Shotts, Helen McFarlane (front centre), outside Monklands Hospital in Airdrie

SCOTLAND’S NHS is under threat from both Tories, who would “sell it off to Trump,” and the SNP, who have “mismanaged it for over a decade,” the Scottish Labour leader cautioned today.

Richard Leonard made the warning as he joined Helen McFarlane, Labour candidate for Airdrie and Shotts, on the campaign trail at Airdrie’s Monklands Hospital.

He said: “Be in no doubt: you cannot trust the Tories with our NHS — they opposed its creation, and they are intent on destroying it once and for all if we leave the EU.

“Be in no doubt: you cannot trust the SNP with our NHS — they have mismanaged it for over a decade. The SNP is asleep at the wheel as our health service faces its biggest danger since it was created.

“The NHS badly needs the massive injection of funding and support that only a UK Labour government can deliver. There is only one party that you can trust with the NHS, and that is Labour.”

Mr Leonard’s remarks follow concerns that parts of the NHS could be sold privately in a post-Brexit trade deal with the US, a suggestion the British government has denied.

Meanwhile in Scotland, the SNP government faced criticism last month following an Audit Scotland report which showed a potential £1.8bn funding gap.

A Scottish Labour FOI investigation revealed today that more than 1,000 operations have been cancelled in Scotland in the last two financial years due to a lack of equipment.

Labour health spokesperson Monica Lennon said: “The SNP’s mismanagement of the NHS is letting people down and our hospitals are not coping.

“Unlike the SNP, Scottish Labour will make health and social care services our priority and deliver real improvements for patients and staff.”

Ms Lennon’s comments followed the Scottish government’s announcement of a £10m funding boost for Scotland’s NHS over the upcoming winter, a move criticised by activists as not going far enough.

She added: “Scottish Labour is worried that the winter funding might not be sufficient to prevent patients facing long waits or from experiencing the indignity of corridor care.”

And Ms Lennon pointed out that the £10m funding is less than what was awarded in 2017 and 2016.

The Socialist Health Association Scotland said in a statement: “To put this in context the Scottish health budget is £13 billion.

“Winter pressures shouldn’t come as a shock to the Health Minister.”

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You can read five articles for free every month,
but please consider supporting us by becoming a subscriber.
More from this author
Scottish Health Secretary Jeane Freeman
Britain / 19 November 2019
19 November 2019
Britain / 19 November 2019
19 November 2019
Britain / 18 November 2019
18 November 2019
Similar stories
An Accident and Emergency sign
Britain / 24 December 2024
24 December 2024