Nigel Farage Would Charge Patients To Use NHS, Say Labour In New Ad Campaign

Patients would be forced to pay for NHS treatment if Nigel Farage became prime minister, Labour has claimed.

The party will use previous comments the Reform UK leader has made about the NHS in a new ad campaign ahead of the local elections in May.

In 2012, Farage said: “I think we’re going to have to think about health care very, very differently. And I think we are going to have to move to an insurance-based system of health care.”

And in January this year, he told LBC that he was “open to anything” when asked if he was open to an insurance-based funding model for the NHS.

According to Labour, evidence from other countries suggests such a system could see patients charged £120 for a GP appointment, £1,300 for an A&E visit and as much as £23,000 for a hip replacement operation.

The party plans to hammer home that message during an “NHS day of action” they have organised for Saturday.

The move is a sign of the threat Labour bosses fear Reform poses at the English local elections on May 1.

Recent opinion polls show Farage’s party running neck-and-neck with both Labour and the Tories. 

HuffPost UK revealed in January how Labour was planning to use Farage’s previous comments on the NHS to attack his party.

Health secretary Wes Streeting said: “Nigel Farage’s plan to make hard-working families pay eye-watering sums to get treatment when they’re sick is enough to send a shiver down the spine of the nation. Everyone deserves a world-class health service, not just the wealthy.

“Labour is investing in the NHS, Farage would cut it and give the money to the wealthiest. Labour is bringing waiting lists down, Farage would send them soaring. Labour is giving people their NHS back, Farage would give them a bill.

He added: “Labour is rebuilding our NHS so that it is there for you when you need it. When you fall ill, you should never have to worry about the bill.” 

A Reform UK spokesman said: “Under a Reform UK government, the NHS will always be free. We have not and will not advocate for an insurance style system. 

“These desperate smears by Labour should come as no surprise. They are trying to deflect from the fact they have hammered workers, pensioners and farmers.

“Labour are breaking Britain.”