Oral Answers to Questions

Deirdre Costigan Excerpts

Tuesday 11th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Wes Streeting]

The NHS has always worked constructively with the independent sector, and I do not believe that ideological hobby horses should come before patients getting faster access to care. This Government are investing in our NHS, and before the hon. Lady complains about that, I would just point out that the Green party’s manifesto on the NHS said that it would require an

“additional annual expenditure of £8bn in the first full year”

of this Parliament, rising to £28 billion later. The Chancellor has just delivered a Budget that delivers £26 billion of additional investment, and the Greens complain about it.

[Deirdre Costigan (Ealing Southall) (Lab)]

I welcome the new Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for West Lancashire (Ashley Dalton), to her place. Hundreds of my constituents are on waiting lists for knee and hip operations, and while the hon. Member for North Herefordshire (Ellie Chowns) says that she would like to see those waiting lists reduced, the Green party has done everything it can to oppose Labour’s plan for change—it opposed our Budget, with its record investment in the NHS, and it opposed our agreement with the independent sector to bring down the backlog. Does the Secretary of State agree that it is time for the Opposition parties to stop wishing for a reduction in waiting lists and start backing Labour’s credible plan to make a real difference?

[Wes Streeting]

I wholeheartedly agree with my hon. Friend. As we know from the Greens’ experience in local government, they cannot clear the bins, let alone the waiting lists.