Income Tax (Charge)

Debate between Jeremy Corbyn and Wes Streeting

Tuesday 5th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Wes Streeting]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right about equity and fairness of access. The Government are determined to close the gap in healthy life expectancy and health inequalities that blight our nation. GPs and primary care are an important part of doing that. Unless we fix the front door to the NHS in primary care, we will not solve our NHS crisis. Unless we address the crisis in social care, we will not fix the NHS crisis. We will be able to do that only if we do so right across the country.

[Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North) (Ind)]

I fully understand the crisis that the Secretary of State inherited. He will be aware that most hospitals are running at a deficit, many have substantial debts and many are spending up to 15% of their income on servicing private finance initiatives. Is his Department prepared to make some kind of intervention to reduce that burden, perhaps by taking over the PFIs directly in order for our hospitals to be able to spend more on what they are there for, which is, of course, patient care?

[Wes Streeting]

I am grateful for that intervention. The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right that we walked into a position of enormous deficits in the NHS, and an enormous black hole in the public finances was left by the last Government. That is why we have had to make some difficult choices. That is why we have to learn from the mistakes of the past and not repeat them in future. We are doing as much as we can as fast as we can. That is why it was important that the Chancellor made the bold choices she did in her Budget, so that, as well as plugging the black hole, we are fixing the foundations. Thanks to the fiscal rules adopted by the Chancellor, we will ensure that the Government do not repeat the waste, the profligacy and the irresponsible spending of our Conservative predecessors.