REFORM leaders in Wales have split from Nigel Farage over his plans to privatise the health service.

The hard-right party’s leader in Wales, Dan Thomas, doubtless worried about the impending Senedd elections, said: “We rule out any kind of insurance system or any kind of privatisation. 

“It will be free at the point of use. That’s what the public in Wales wants, and that’s what we will deliver.” 

That puts him at odds with Mr Farage, who has long championed an insurance-based health service involving private capital, and recently insisted policy “would be a national decision ahead of a general election. 

“On the big UK picture of health, I’m prepared to consider any alternative to the failure we’ve got now,” he said.

Labour health minister and Welsh MP Stephen Kinnock did not scorn the open goal.

He said: “Reform are now fighting like rats in a sack over whether or not to charge you for healthcare. 

“Nigel Farage has a long history of pushing for an insurance-based system of healthcare — and we know when his right-hand men fall out of line, he’s more than willing to throw them under the bus to get his own way.

“Destroying our NHS has become a life’s ambition for Farage — there’s no reason to believe he’ll stop now. 

“Whether it be in England or in Nye Bevan’s Wales, we can’t afford to let Reform get within an inch of our NHS. Labour is fixing our NHS and will always ensure it remains free at the point of use.”