Keir Starmer: ‘We are going to have to be unpopular’
Spectator (UK)Aug 25
UK: Starmer Says NHS Must 'Reform or Die'
Above: Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (L) and Health Secretary, Wes Streeting (R) a visit to the University College London Hospital on Sept.11, 2024 in London. Image copyright: Stefan Rousseau - WPA Pool/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has claimed the NHS must undertake "major surgery" and "reform or die" following the results of a review into England's health services.
Speaking at the King's Fund, Starmer pledged three major changes as part of a 10-year NHS plan — moving from analog to digital technology, transitioning from hospital care to community care, and focusing on prevention instead of sickness.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
After far too long of Conservatives ignoring the root causes of the UK health system's decline, there's hope that Starmer and Streeting hold a credible plan to reverse the UK's healthcare doom spiral. The new government's long-term reform-focused NHS strategy is a relief after many years of short-term "sticking plaster" approaches. All eyes now will now be on performance — Labour will be well aware of the consequences of failing to achieve their lofty promises in what many may come to see as a legacy-defining test for Starmer.
Establishment-critical narrative
While Starmer and Lord Darzi are correct in their diagnosis of the many challenges currently facing the NHS, to believe the service can be fixed without a significant increase in funding risks is a dangerous repetition of an approach that has helped create this mess in the first place. Unless Labour rolls up its sleeves and finally forces those who are better off to contribute their fair share of tax to fund key pillars of British society, the NHS will only continue to crumble in front of the UK's very eyes.