Immigrants (NHS Treatment)

Baroness Keeley Excerpts
Monday 25th March 2013

(11 years, 7 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Jeremy Hunt Portrait Mr Hunt
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Obviously, I want to ensure that as much money as possible goes to residents throughout the country by tackling abuse, and I would not want to minimise what the issue might be in Worcestershire. I stress, however, that the biggest problem we face is in big urban centres where there are large numbers of illegal immigrants, and we must get a grip of that problem for the sake of the elderly population in those cities.

Baroness Keeley Portrait Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)
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If the Secretary of State is concerned to protect NHS budgets, why is he allowing a £2.2 billion raid from the Treasury? Is that not a much more serious cut in the NHS services we can pay for in this country?

Jeremy Hunt Portrait Mr Hunt
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If the hon. Lady is worried about that, perhaps she might like to complain to her own party leadership, which, during Labour’s last five years in office, had an average underspend in the NHS of £2 billion.