NHS future 'depends on Brexit negotiations'

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said he "would love" to offer a pay increase to NHS staff, but claimed its very future depends on the forthcoming Brexit negotiations.

He said: "No-one disputes that NHS staff do a fantastic job, I don't think they've ever worked harder. We would love to be able to pay them more that we're able to at the the moment - the question is whether Labour have got the extra money.

"[Labour] have promised the same receipts from corporation tax cuts to school budgets, to getting rid of tuition fees."

He added: "How do we get the extra funding in the NHS in the years ahead to deal with the pressures of an ageing population?

"[It will be down to] whoever becomes Prime Minster in the most difficult negotiations we've ever had in peacetime, and those will be critical for the NHS.

"The Brexit negotiations will decide whether the British economy can continue to expand, continue to create jobs - and that's how we fund the NHS."