By Lucy Caulkett-
UK Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson , is facing mounting attacks for undermining the NHS, despite his recent efforts to secure increased spend on healthcare.
The foreign secretary is reportedly behind a mini Cabinet coup that is trying to get Theresa May to commit an extra £100m a week of funding into the NHS after Brexit. Johnson said that
Johnson’s allies include fellow leave campaigners environment secretary Michael Gove, international development secretary Penny Mordaunt and transport secretary Chris Grayling.
The scheme is viewed by skeptics as part of a wider move to get May to adopt more vote-winning policies. Johnson’s recent onslaught of attacks come amid public efforts he has been making to reform the failing NHS, but his enemies question his motives. If his objectives are viable and genuine, he will have to get that message across.
Chancellor Philip Hammond confirmed he was reviewing the 6bn he gave health secretary Jeremy Hunt, and highlighted that Johnson is the Foreign Secretary, not the health secretary. It may be that Johnson feels the health secretary is not doing a good job, and feels the need to intervene. When asked about the move, he simply responded: “Mr Johnson is the foreign secretary.
“I gave the health secretary [Jeremy Hunt] an extra £6bn at the recent budget and we will look at departmental allocations again at the spending review when that takes place.”
Others have been more straightforward.
Conservative MP and Remain supporter Anna Soubry this morning tweeted that May “should have sacked Boris Johnson for his longstanding incompetence and disloyalty”. She added: “Unless TM acts now Boris will bring her down.”
Labour MP and Open Britain supporter Ben Bradshaw said: “Few ministers in modern history have done more to undermine our NHS than Boris Johnson.
“His lies about how Brexit would deliver £350m a week for the health service have fatally damaged public trust. And the reality of Brexit so far has been a weakened health service with fewer resources and a Brexodus of nurses and doctors.
“The reality is that Brexit is today the biggest threat facing the NHS. If Boris Johnson and his Cabinet colleagues were genuinely concerned about what is happening on the front-line they would be fighting to stay in the Single Market, rather than pushing for a hard and destructive Brexit.”
VALUE JUDGMENT
Boris has to address any claim he made that Brexitwould deliver 350m a week for the NHS, since the public would rightly demand a response. However, the comment that Johnson would be open to the single market if he was that concerned is a value judgement that assumes Johnson doesn’t believe Britain can succeed outside the single market. If Johnson believes Britain can still succeed outside the single market, then he may well be convinced that there will be enough money to fund it.
What really matters is whether the Foreign Secretary’s proposal for the NHS is practical or not. If it is not, then the idea is ridiculous. If it is, then his critics should be made to find out.
Liberal Democrat chief whip Alistair Carmichael added flames to the heat saying:”Serious Cabinet manoeuvres are not briefed to the Today Programme in advance. We can presume that this is another Boris stunt. If he really believes this then he should paint it on the side of a bus.
“Boris isn’t out to promote the NHS, he is only out to promote Boris. He appears to be testing the waters for his future ambitions. He turns up at Cabinet, act like he runs the place, then waits to see how the dust settles at the end of the day. This is not how a country should be run.”