Immigrants (NHS Treatment)

Lord Beamish Excerpts
Monday 25th March 2013

(11 years, 8 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Jeremy Hunt Portrait Mr Hunt
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Yes it is. We are always likely to pay out more than we receive under that scheme because we have a number of pensioners who decide to retire to slightly sunnier climes and there is a cost to the UK under EU treaty law with those decisions. My hon. Friend is right to point out that just as inadequate as our failure to charge people from outside the EU when we should is our failure to collect money from inside the EU when we are able to, and we must also look at that.

Lord Beamish Portrait Mr Kevan Jones (North Durham) (Lab)
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The Secretary of State has clarified the Prime Minister’s figure of £20 million, but he used inflammatory language to my hon. Friend the Member for Bolsover (Mr Skinner) about health tourists clogging up A and Es. He claims that £200 million could be the tip of the iceberg, but if he does not know the figure is that not the worst example of dog-whistle politics?

Jeremy Hunt Portrait Mr Hunt
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If we do not know the figure, is not the right thing to do to find it out and sort out the problem, unlike what the hon. Gentleman’s party did during 13 years in office?