Wes Streeting said Reform pose a far greater threat than the ‘wacky’ Greens, and warned it represents ‘something much, much more dangerous, much more ugly’ than Labour’s traditional Tory rivals
Nigel Farage can’t be trusted with the NHS as he’ll sell the country “a pack of lies” again, Wes Streeting has said.
The Health Secretary said Reform pose a far greater threat than the “wacky” Greens, and warned it represents “something much, much more dangerous, much more ugly” than Labour’s traditional Tory rivals.
It comes as Labour braces for a tough set of local elections next month, as the party faces pressure on the left and the right.
Mr Streeting has repeatedly seized on Reform’s conflicting statements about the NHS, which has seen Mr Farage float the idea of reforms to the funding model. Reform UK said last month: A Reform UK spokesperson said: “We will always keep the NHS free at the point of use for British citizens.”
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Speaking on a visit to Queen’s Hospital, Romford, he said: “The people we’ve been seeing here in Romford today, these are not people who can afford to pay for their health care. Imagine if they turned up at the A&E department, and people are asking to check their credit card before they get their care. I mean, that’s not future the NHS I want to see.”
He went on: “There are a lot of traditional Labour people who may be thinking about Reform and thinking, well, maybe that might be my protest vote this time, or maybe that might be something different. And again, I just say, if you care about the NHS, you cannot trust Farage with the NHS.
“He sold this country a pack of lies before and he will do it again. And so we’ve got to take him on. We’ve got to beat him. We’ve got to fight politics as a battle of ideas.”
Labour is also facing a threat from an invigorated Green Party, which pulled off an upset in the Gorton and Denton by-election in February. But Mr Streeting dismissed leader Zack Polanski, who suggested hypnosis could increase a woman’s breast size while working as a hypnotherapist in 2013.
“I mean that kind of screams oddball, and I don’t really know why people are taking the Greens seriously,” he said. He also tore into comments from Scottish Green candidate Kate Nevens, who has said she wants to abolish prisons.
He said: “When people look closely at who they are and what they’re saying, I’d just say these are not the cuddly conservationist Greens your grandparents voted for.”
The Cabinet Minister admitted Labour had made mistakes but said it needs to shout louder about its successes. He said: “I feel proud of what we’re doing in Government. We are making a difference. Lots done, so much more to do. Change has begun. The best is still to come.”
Mr Streeting, who has long been seen as a possible leadership challenger, said Keir Starmer had shown his mettle over the Iran war.
He said: “What people have seen from Keir Starmer in the context of Iran is the thing that got him elected Prime Minister of this country in the first place – serious level headed leadership, grit and guts, actually.
“I hope that people will give him credit for that, because I think he deserves it, even if he would be too modest to say so himself.”