Minister defends government’s NHS record after Tory MP’s defection to Labour
A Home Office minister has had to defend Sunak's government's record on the NHS, after the shock defection of a Tory MP to Labour in anger over the "failing" health service.
Dr Dan Poulter, a former health minister and working medic, quit the Tory Party saying, he could no longer “look my NHS colleagues in the eye” as a Conservative.
But on Sunday policing minister Chris Philp rejected the claim that the governing party was not prioritising the NHS, pointing to investment and recruitment efforts.
“I don’t accept what Dan is saying at all." Mr Philp told BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg,
“We’re now spending £165 billion a year on the NHS, that’s more than ever, at any point in history,” he said, also pointing to the recruitment of more doctors and nurses.
“That isn’t the sign of a party de-prioritising the NHS. That is a sign of a political party, the Conservatives, investing heavily in our NHS because it is a priority.”
Dr Poulter, the MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, will take the Labour whip until the general election but will not be running again, as he wrote in the Observer.
He will advise the Labour Party on its mental health policies while focusing more on his NHS work.
Labour's Sir Keir and shadow health secretary Wes Streeting welcomed Dr Poulter, with the leader saying it was “fantastic to welcome Dr Dan Poulter to today’s changed Labour Party”.
Mr Streeting said he looked forward to working with the frontline clinician, especially on mental health reform.
Asked whether the MP was offered anything to defect to Labour, Mr Streeting told Kuenssberg: “Not that I’m aware of.
“He said very clearly to me when I was talking to him this week about how he might help, he’s going back to the NHS full-time when Parliament is dissolved, which can’t come soon enough as far as we’re concerned.”
Dr Poulter's move is likely to spook already restive Tory MPs and fuel doubts over Mr Sunak’s premiership.
There is already speculation that a disastrous set of local elections results for the Tories in a few days’ time could galvanise unhappy backbenchers into moving against him.
Mr Sunak has insisted he intends to call a general election in the second half of the year, but the fallout from the local elections could force his hand.
It could either lead to a challenge to his leadership or persuade him that an earlier polling day could be a better solution than limping on with a divided party.
The prime minister said he would not “say anything more than I’ve already said”, which is that the national poll is likely to be in the second half of the year.
Dr Poulter urged Mr Sunak to call a general election “as soon as possible” as he ditched the governing party.
He told the Observer the Conservative Party “feels like it has become a nationalist party of the right”.
“The health service has ceased to be an area of priority for the Conservative Party, and that is now showing in the strain on the front line and the deterioration of care for patients,” he said.
He added that he had come to the conclusion that “the only cure is a Labour government”, and he would support Sir Keir Starmer and shadow health secretary Wes Streeting on NHS policy.
The Conservative Party hit back that he was “wrong” to say only the Opposition could improve the health service.
It is the first time a Conservative MP has crossed the floor to Labour since Christian Wakeford did so in 2022.
Dr Poulter’s move is the second defection under Mr Sunak, after former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson left the party for Reform earlier this year.
The Telegraph reported that a group of Tory rebels have devised a plan to oust the Prime Minister and unite around Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt, though a source close to the Cabinet minister said “it’s total hogwash”.
“We’ve heard these rumours time and time again. Always lacking substance. Idle speculation is not helpful to anybody but those wishing to cause chaos,” the source said.
A Tory Party spokesperson said: “For the people of Central Suffolk and North Ipswich this will be disappointing news. What Dan says is wrong as Sir Keir Starmer has no plan for our NHS.
“Under the Conservatives we are raising NHS funding to a record £165 billion a year, helping it recover from the effects of the pandemic and driving forward its first ever long-term workforce plan so that we train the doctors and nurses we need for the future in our country.”
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