Dom Tristram's Soapbox

Yesterday (6th January 2025) the Labour government announced of a significant increase in the use of private healthcare providers to address NHS waiting lists. While some may argue this is a pragmatic response to backlogs, the implications of this policy confirm a deeper, more troubling shift.A Pattern of PrivatisationI have long pointed to the Labour Party’s pro-privatisation stance, but this warning has all too often fallen on deaf ears, both of Labour activists and some voters. I can’t tell you how many times I have been at hustings or meetings about the NHS where people simply don’t believe that Labour, the self-styled ‘party of the NHS’ has anything but the best of intentions for it and keeping it public.However, this is not the case. Even under Corbyn (who supported the Bill as a back bencher) the Labour Party was whipped to abstain on the NHS Reinstatement Bill, which would have put removing profits from NHS service into law.Wes Streeting, the Shadow Health Secretary, has consistently shown sympathy to