Labour MPs will be forced into a vote on the Government’s delays to Boris Johnson‘s “40 new hospitals” scheme, The i Paper can reveal.
A parliamentary debate on whether it is right to push back the timing of the programme, which has struggled to meet its promised targets, could put Labour into a politically embarrassing position.
Sir Keir Starmer is likely to tell his MPs to abstain from the non-binding vote, but that may open them up to claims they are not pushing for new hospitals to be built in their constituencies on the shortest possible timetable.
The motion is being tabled on Wednesday by the Liberal Democrats, who also want a “crumbling hospitals taskforce” to be set up to ensure that NHS facilities are brought up to minimum standards.
It comes ahead of next week’s local elections in many areas of England, where the Commons’ third party is seeking to make gains by presenting itself as the defender of the health service.
At the 2019 general election, Johnson promised to build 40 new hospitals by the end of this decade – although it was always unclear whether there was enough funding for the project.
His flagship NHS commitment has been plagued with controversies, including a row over how many of the projects were really “new”.
Boris Johnson pledged to ‘fix social care once and for all’ and to build 40 ‘new’ hospitals, neither of which he achieved (Photo by Christopher Furlong/WPA Pool/Getty Images)It faced further setbacks due to soaring inflation and the discovery of dangerous, crumbling concrete known as “RAAC” in many existing hospital buildings, which then required urgent repairs.
And Johnson’s pledge has continued to cause a headache for the Labour Government since it came to power.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting ordered a review into the scheme, resulting in the target date for its completion being pushed back to the end of the 2030s, with nearly half of the hospitals not set to begin construction until 2032.
Helen Morgan, the Liberal Democrats’ health spokesperson, said: “When people go into a hospital the only thing that should be on their mind is getting better, not whether there will be a power cut whilst they are on the operating table or if a roof will cave in on them as they sit in a waiting room.
“After years of disgraceful Conservative neglect this is the awful situation we find ourselves in. Yet, instead of moving at the speed required, this Labour Government has embraced the false economy of dither and delay, opting to kick the can down the road rather than deliver for patients. The time for refusing to front up to these big challenges is over.”
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A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We inherited a New Hospital Programme that was neither deliverable or affordable, and funding would have run out last month.
“This Government has confirmed a funding plan and an honest, realistic timetable to deliver all schemes in the programme. Through our Plan for Change, we have made the choices that have put £26bn into our NHS and social care.
“We are working closely with trusts to ensure schemes are ready to enter construction as quickly as possible and that taxpayers get maximum value for money.”
A Labour source added: “We’ve got this programme back on a deliverable and honest footing after the damage and mess the Tories caused. The Lib Dems wouldn’t have backed our choices at the Budget to raise £26bn for our NHS and so should be clear – what would they actually do for our NHS and how would they fund it?
“This Government’s plan for change is leading to falling waiting lists, more GPs and 700,000 more dental appointments across the country. The opposition parties are all against these measures.”
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