Health Secretary Wes Streeting is set to criticise Nigel Farage for promoting a 'miserabilist, declinist' vision of Britain, arguing that it is time to fight a battle of ideas against the populist right. In a speech on Saturday, Streeting will say that failing public services have acted as a 'fertiliser of populism' by breeding cynicism about politics' ability to effect change.
Streeting will argue that repairing the NHS is crucial to countering the threat posed by Farage and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, whom he describes as the two 'alternative candidates for prime minister at the next election'. He will assert that 'delivery isn't enough' and that progressive politicians must confidently take on their arguments and win the battle of ideas.
The intervention comes as Reform UK appears neck and neck with Labour and the Conservatives in opinion polls, following Donald Trump's inauguration in the US. While some Labour strategists believe taking on Farage could damage the Conservatives more, many Labour backbenchers have been uneasy about the party's approach of largely ignoring Reform.
Streeting, widely tipped as a potential future Labour leader, will firmly position himself among those who believe Farage must be confronted. 'The crux of Farage's argument is this: what was possible in the 20th century is not possible in the 21st. It's a miserabilist, declinist vision for Britain's future,' he will say.
He will highlight previous comments by Badenoch and Farage suggesting the NHS's principle of being free at the point of use could be debated, and will argue that Labour utterly rejects such a 'poverty of ambition'. Streeting will point to 150,000 patients coming off waiting lists in the past four months as evidence that the NHS can be turned around.
Streeting will also challenge Farage's support for tax cuts for private healthcare, saying ordinary people have been 'left behind by those who can afford to jump the queue and go private'. He will accuse Farage of cementing a two-tier healthcare system, while Labour is ending it.
