Oral Answers to Questions

Edward Miliband Excerpts

Wednesday 16th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I have great respect for my right hon. and learned Friend, who speaks with great expertise on these issues. The points he made on Monday about the arms embargo were extremely important. We will, of course, look at any suggestion, but the problem at the moment is that there is no peace to keep. What I can report is that yesterday evening, after extensive discussion with Lebanon, France, the US and others, the UK tabled a new draft Security Council resolution in the UN. It includes a no-fly zone, banning all flights except humanitarian ones, an extension of the travel ban and the asset freeze and tougher enforcement of the arms embargo, particularly on the Libyan Government. Of course there are a wide range of views in the UN; I urge all to take the right steps so that we show some leadership on this issue and make sure that we can get rid of this regime.

[Edward Miliband (Doncaster North) (Lab)]

Let me begin by echoing the Prime Minister’s tribute to Lance Corporal Stephen McKee of 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment. He showed exceptional courage and bravery, and our thoughts are with his family and friends. Let me also echo the Prime Minister’s remarks about the community of Wootton Bassett, and the very fitting award of the “royal” designation. It is a tribute, and a sign of the way in which that community has responded to our armed forces.

Following the Liberal Democrat conference at the weekend, is the Prime Minister planning any new amendments to his Health and Social Care Bill?

[The Prime Minister]

First of all, let us be clear about the fact that the reforms are about cutting bureaucracy and improving patient care. They were drawn up by us as a coalition to improve the NHS. Let me answer the right hon. Gentleman’s question very directly. We have already made some real strengthenings to the Bill. First, we have ruled out price competition in the NHS. Secondly, there is the issue raised by the Liberal Democrats, with which I completely agree: we must avoid cherry-picking by the private sector in the NHS. The right hon. Gentleman might care to reflect that under the Labour Government, the private sector was given £250 million for operations that were never carried out. Perhaps he would like to apologise for that cherry-picking, and support our anti-cherry-picking amendment.

[Edward Miliband]

Let us give the Prime Minister another go at answering the question that I asked. The question that I asked was this. Following the Liberal Democrat conference at the weekend, are any further amendments to be tabled to the Health and Social Care Bill—yes or no?

[The Prime Minister]

The problem with pre-scripted questions is that they do not give you the opportunity to respond to the first answer. I gave a very clear answer about price competition and about cherry-picking.

What I would say to the right hon. Gentleman is that he should not set his face against reform in the NHS. The fact is that we support extra money going into the NHS—money that the right hon. Gentleman does not support—but we recognise that with an ageing population, more expensive treatment and new drugs coming on stream, we need to reform the NHS, and that reform must accompany the extra money that is being provided. Why is the right hon. Gentleman setting his face against that?

[Edward Miliband]

The Prime Minister really must get away from these pre-scripted answers. [Laughter.] I will tell him why no one trusts what he says about the NHS. What used he to say about NHS reorganisations?

“There will be no more of those pointless re-organisations that aim for change but instead bring chaos…it’s profoundly disruptive and demoralising.”

I agree with what the Prime Minister used to say. Why doesn’t he?

[The Prime Minister]

We are not reorganising the bureaucracy of the NHS. [Interruption.] We are abolishing the bureaucracy of the NHS. Perhaps the right hon. Gentleman would like to listen to what the adviser to the Labour Government said about our NHS reforms. He said:

“most of these reforms are very much where”

the last Government

“and indeed I, would like to have gone if we had not encountered some of the road blocks that one did.”

We know that the roadblock was the last leader of the Labour party. What a pity it is that the current leader of the Labour party is “son of roadblock”.

[Edward Miliband]

I am proud of our record on the NHS. We have 100 new hospitals, more doctors and nurses than ever before, the shortest waiting times in history, and the highest level of patient satisfaction ever. But the Prime Minister is wrecking our record on the NHS, and what is his answer? The Bill creates a free-market free-for-all and threatens existing NHS services. Let me ask the Prime Minister a very specific question. Will he confirm that this Bill makes health care subject to European Union competition law, for the first time in history?

[The Prime Minister]

I have to say that the right hon. Gentleman is beginning to sound like the last leader of the Labour party. If he will not listen to the adviser to the Labour Government, perhaps he will listen to his own health spokesman, who said this:

“"No-one in the House of Commons knows more about”—[Interruption.]

[The Prime Minister]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. If I can take the trouble to read out the Opposition health spokesman’s speeches, the Opposition should at least have the decency to listen to them.

The Opposition health spokesman said this:

“No-one in the House of Commons knows more about the NHS than Andrew Lansley—except perhaps Stephen Dorrell. But Andrew Lansley spent six years in Opposition as shadow health secretary. No-one has visited more of the NHS. No-one has talked to more people…in the NHS.”

He went on to say:

“these plans are consistent, coherent and comprehensive. I would expect nothing less from Andrew Lansley.”

[Edward Miliband]

Talk about pre-scripted answers again! Why does the Prime Minister not answer the question? Does he even know whether the health service will now be subject to EU competition law? It will be. Let us look at the Health and Social Care Bill: chapter 2, “Competition”; clause 60, “Functions under the Competition Act 1998”; clause 66, “Reviews by the Competition Commission”; clause 68, “Co-operation with the Office of Fair Trading”. Can the Prime Minister explain to the British people what that has got to do with health care?

[The Prime Minister]

The Opposition are the party that rigged the system so there was cherry-picking by the NHS. The point I would make is this: at the last election Opposition Members all stood on a manifesto that said—[Interruption.] I am answering the question. This is what the Opposition said in their manifesto:

“Patients requiring elective care will have the right, in law, to choose from any provider who meets NHS standards of quality”.

They were in favour of competition in their manifesto. All that has changed is that they are just jumping on every bandwagon, supporting every union, blocking every reform and opposing the extra money being put into the NHS.

[Edward Miliband]

He just does not get it: he is threatening the fabric of the NHS. This Bill shows everything that people do not like about this Government: broken promises, arrogance, incompetence, and ignoring people who know something about the health service. Does this not show once again that, as the British Medical Association said yesterday and as the Liberal Democrats said on Saturday, you can’t trust the Tories on the NHS?

[The Prime Minister]

The right hon. Gentleman should remember that the BMA opposed foundation hospitals, GP fundholding and longer opening hours for GPs’ surgeries. Is it not typical that, just as he has to back every other trade union, and just as he has no ideas of his own, he just comes here and reads a BMA press release? How utterly feeble.