Taylor Swift tickets easier to get than NHS dentist appointments, Labour says

Taylor Swift tickets are easier to get than an NHS dental appointment as the Tories have left the UK "toothless", according to Labour.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said the number of people now attempting DIY dentistry is a “moral outrage”, as he opened a Labour-led Commons debate on the lack of toothcare available through the NHS.

Mr Streeting also fired a warning shot towards opponents of Labour’s plans to fund dental reform by scrapping the non-domiciled tax status, claiming that the party would “quote their arguments back at them” in campaign leaflets during a likely election year.

He told MPs: “Politics is about choices. Labour chooses to rescue NHS dentistry, not give the wealthiest a tax break. Labour’s plan is fully costed, fully funded and will make a real difference to people across the country.

“The Tories have left our country toothless, Labour will give our country its smile back and give its NHS back too.”

Mr Streeting said tooth decay is “now the number one reason children aged six to 10 end up in hospital”, adding: “And we face the moral outrage of one in 10 Brits… saying they have been forced to attempt dentistry themselves because the NHS wasn’t there for them when they needed it.

“This is Dickensian. DIY dentistry in 21st century Britain. Is there any greater example of the decline this country has been subjected to under the Conservatives?”

While West Lancashire MP, Ashley Dalton said: “It’s easier to get your hands on Taylor Swift tickets in 2024, than it is to get an NHS dental appointment.”

Mr Streeting claimed Labour would fund NHS dentistry reform through scrapping the non-dom status in order to raise extra tax revenue.

The Labour frontbencher warned his opponents: “If members disagree with charging non-doms their fair share maybe they could explain in their own contributions why they disagree.

“I am sure that their constituents would love to hear their defence of the non-doms and we would be happy to give them space on Labour leaflets to quote their arguments back at them and let the public decide.”

Throughout his speech, the shadow health secretary also referred to the names of Labour’s parliamentary candidates in Tory-held seats across the country, who had raised dentistry problems with him.

Health Secretary Victoria Atkins told MPs she was “determined to fix these issues” with NHS dentistry “so that anyone who needs to can always see an NHS dentist no matter where they live in the country”.

She also warned that Labour’s plans to scrap the non-dom status could impact the number of foreign workers recruited into the NHS.

Ms Atkins said: “As our economy grows, we on this side of the House want to attract the best and the brightest from around the world to work in our NHS, to work in our tech sector, to work in our life sciences industry, to work in our movie industry – which we may know just filmed Barbie this year – and many other industries that are thriving.

“Labour however apparently wants to shut the door through taxing such people on earnings they make outside the UK. I speak of course of the non-domiciled tax status.”

The health secretary, formerly a Treasury minister, said non-dom taxpayers paid £8 billion in UK taxes on their UK earnings last year.

She added: “That is equivalent to more than 230,000 nurses. Labour wants to put that at risk and put the UK at a disadvantage in the highly paid, highly competitive, highly mobile international labour market.”

Conservative former health minister Steve Brine said there cannot be further delay to the government’s dental recovery plan.

Mr Brine, who chairs the Commons Health Select Committee, said: “There is still no date for the publication of (the) dental recovery plan, to my committee’s continued frustration, it has to be said.

“If we don’t solve this crisis, then we are going to continue to hear about this in the House and we are going to continue to hear about it from constituents, it also places additional pressures on already stretched NHS services.

“So, today is too late for some dentists thinking of leaving, and for some patients who have run out of options. We have a short-term set of actions to help our constituents suffering real pain today, and obviously we need that fully reformed dental recovery plan hot on its heels, there can’t be any further delay.”

British Dental Association chairman Eddie Crouch said in a statement: “Today, when we needed clarity, the Government provided a full gamut of platitudes and half-truths.

“Ministers keep saying they want an NHS dentist for everyone. There is still no evidence of any plan to make that happen.”

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