Nigel Farage has kicked up fresh controversy by suggesting the NHS should adopt a new funding model—potentially meaning patients would pay for some treatments themselves. Critics say the move would effectively dismantle the beloved health service and leave millions unable to afford vital care.
WATCH: Multi-millionaire Reform UK MP calls for NHS break-up: “Buy your own healthcare”
Nigel Farage: A “New Way” to Fund Healthcare
In an interview with The Times, the Reform UK leader floated the idea of means testing and moving away from the current universal system. While he insists those who “can’t afford to pay” will still be carried, many suspect that Farage’s plan could dramatically reduce free access to the NHS.
“We’ve got to identify a system of funding for healthcare that is more effective than the one we have… and at the same time carries those who can’t afford to pay,” Farage said.
Labour: “He Wants to Decimate the NHS”
A Labour spokesperson condemned Farage’s plan, claiming it would end the NHS as we know it and hurt ordinary Britons:
“That might work for him and his multi-millionaire deputy, but it would see working people unable to afford vital treatments.”
They also warned that a “Tory-Reform coalition of chaos” could push the NHS to the brink just as waiting lists are already uncomfortably long.
“Check Your Purse Before Your Pulse”
Former Labour frontbencher Jon Ashworth quipped that Farage’s proposal might force doctors to perform credit checks before heart checks:
“Could you afford £3,243 for cataract treatment? £12,500 for a hip replacement? That’s Nigel Farage’s shocking plan for the NHS.”
He paints a grim picture of ordinary people taking on loans or maxing out credit cards to pay for routine medical care.
A Political Flashpoint
Farage’s comments feed into a wider debate on the future of the NHS, a service championed for nearly 80 years as free at the point of use. With waiting lists at crisis levels and continued scrutiny over public funding, it’s no surprise that whispers of privatisation—or “decimation,” as Labour puts it—have unleashed fierce backlash.
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