NHS bill is bad for your health, Miliband tells Cameron

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/feb/29/nhs-bill-bad-health-pmqs

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David Cameron was warned by Ed Miliband that the Conservatives were "digging their own burial at the next general election" by pushing on with Andrew Lansley's controversial health reforms, as the Labour leader roll-called the tally of organisations calling for the legislation to be scrapped.

The prime minister hit back as he insisted there was support for the role of competition in the NHS and played down the opposition to the government's beleaguered health reforms.

Cameron told MPs at prime minister's questions: "The problem for the Labour party is they are against both the money that needs to go into the NHS, which they say is irresponsible, and although they supported competition and choice in the past they don't support it any more."

Miliband challenged the premier to list organisations that remain "wholehearted supporters" of the reforms. He cited the former NHS chief executive Lord Crisp, who recently described the bill as "a mess" and "unnecessary" and said it was "setting the NHS back".

He also raised the opposition of the Tower Hamlets clinical commissioning group to the bill and the bureaucracy it generated. "Isn't it time you recognised you have lost the confidence even of the GPs you say want to be at the heart of your reform?" he said.

Listing the growing number of organisations to call for the bill to be withdrawn, Miliband said: "With every week that goes by, there are yet more damning indictments of your NHS bill."

He added: "Does it not ever occur to him that just maybe they're right and he's wrong?"

Cameron insisted that 8,200 GP practices in England were "implementing the reforms, which is what they want to see happen".

He said former Labour health minister and surgeon Lord Darzi believed "the right competition for the right reasons can drive us to achieve more", and former Labour cabinet minister Lord Hutton said "competition can make the NHS more equitable".

Cameron quipped: "They don't want to listen to Labour ministers when they used to win elections."

The prime minister also challenged the scale of opposition to the bill by rank-and-file members within professional bodies that have attacked the reforms.

"There are 44,000 members of the Royal College of GPs. Out of a total of 44,000, just 7% responded opposing the bill – 7%," he said.

He said: "I know that's enough for the unions to elect a leader of the Labour party, but that's about as far as it will go."

Miliband turned on the deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, sitting next to Cameron. In reference to the fact that Clegg and senior Lib Dem peer Baroness Williams wrote to the party's parliamentarians this week spelling out fresh changes they were seeking to the legislation, the Labour leader said: "It's no good the deputy prime minister smirking. I don't know whether he supports the bill or opposes it."

Clegg indicated to Miliband that he backed the bill. The Labour leader said: "Oh, he supports it … there's firm leadership for you."