Health Secretary Wes Streeting has warned that a Reform UK government led by Nigel Farage could spell the end of the National Health Service, urging the party to reveal its health policies ahead of May's local elections.
Speaking at an Institute for Public Policy Research event in London, Streeting accused Farage of hiding his plans for the NHS, pointing to the Reform leader's past comments favouring an insurance-based system. “When Nigel Farage announced his shadow cabinet, he forgot to appoint a shadow health secretary. Now that might be because if Farage becomes prime minister, there will be no NHS,” Streeting said.
Streeting quoted Farage as saying “We are going to have to move to an insurance-based system of healthcare” and “I do not want it funded through general taxation. It doesn’t work.” Farage has since insisted he supports healthcare free at the point of use, but Streeting demanded clarity on what kind of insurance system Reform would introduce, how much patients would pay in premiums, and what protections would exist for the uninsured.
The health secretary also highlighted Reform UK's surge in opinion polls, particularly in Wales, where the party is tied with Plaid Cymru. He described the prospect of a Farage victory as sending “shivers down my spine” and urged voters to back Welsh Labour to protect the NHS.
Streeting concluded by likening Farage's lack of transparency on health policy to a “con” bigger than Brexit, stating: “You cannot trust this con artist with the NHS.”
