Keir Starmer insists he would by no means use non-public healthcare

Sir Keir Starmer last night claimed he would never use private healthcare – even if a relative was stuck on a long NHS waiting list.

The Labour leader said the health service ‘was in his DNA’ and cited his wife Victoria’s work in occupational health.

Despite the party’s policy of employing the private sector to help slash hospital waiting lists, Sir Keir said he would never consider using anything but the NHS for his loved ones.

However, Rishi Sunak said he would take the decision to use private healthcare if needed.

Asked the question about private health by moderator Julie Etchingham during a live debate on ITV last night, the Labour leader said: ‘No.’

‘I don’t use private health,’ he said. ‘I use the NHS. That’s where my wife works, in one of the big hospitals; as I said, it runs through my DNA.’ Sir Keir lamented the current ‘broken’ state of the health service and accused ministers of leaving the NHS in a worse state than when they entered government in 2010.

But the Prime Minister – who admitted it would still take time for the NHS to recover from Covid – said waiting lists were coming down and blamed industrial action for the problem worsening.

Asked if social care would be fully funded in their respective manifestos, Mr Sunak said: ‘We have already given social care an extra £8billion, because pressures are immediate.’

Sir Keir said: ‘We will have a plan for social care and, like everything else in our manifesto, it will be fully costed and fully funded. It starts with the workforce.’

A snap poll suggested the PM narrowly edged an incredibly bad-tempered head-to-head on ITV, where both leaders repeatedly spoke over each as host Julie Etchingham struggled to rein them in.

A YouGov snap poll found that 51 per cent thought Mr Sunak won the debate, with 49 per cent plumping for Sir Keir – excluding don’t knows. 

Some 62 per cent regarded the debate as ‘frustrating’. Sir Keir won on being trustworthy and likeable – and all other categories apart from tax, immigration and being ‘prime ministerial’.

With Labour miles ahead in opinion polls, Mr Sunak had to go on the offensive this evening. And he went hard from the start, berating Sir Keir for plotting to hike the tax burden by £2,000 a year. 

He later went on the attack over Net Zero saying Sir Keir would inflict big costs by forcing people to upgrade boilers and change cars. ‘Mark my words Labour will raise your taxes,’ he said.

However, Sir Keir said that was ‘nonsense’ and he wanted to ‘turn the page’ with a ‘practical plan’ for the country. He jibed that Mr Sunak calling the election early demonstrated that he did not believe the ‘plan was working’. ‘If he thinks that things are going to get better why has he called it now?’ Sir Keir said.

The leaders crossed swords on immigration, with Mr Sunak arguing that Rwanda policy could help stop small boats. When Sir Keir branded it an ‘expensive gimmick’ Mr Sunak shot back: ‘You might not like it but I’ve got a plan.’

Sir Keir also taunted the ‘desperate’ Tory leader that he was the ‘most liberal’ PM ever because legal net immigration is running at record levels – with the latest figures 685,000 a year.

Mr Sunak received a round of applause as he said he was prepared to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to ensure migrants could be deported. But Sir Keir was also clapped as he said the UK should stick to its legal obligations.

There were groans from the audience as Mr Sunak was challenged over NHS waiting lists, and claimed they were ‘coming down’. ‘They are coming down from when they were higher,’ he said.

Mr Sunak was targeted with more muttering from the crowd as he said the health service had been hit by ‘industrial action’. ‘So you’re blaming someone else,’ Sir Keir shot back.