Ed Miliband, due to address Labour conference shortly, is to announce a £2.5 billion NHS Time to Care Fund for thousands more nurses, doctors, caseworkers and midwives. Time to Care will get its money from a £1.1 billion clampdown on tax avoidance, a mansion tax on properties worth more than £2 million and US-style fees for tobacco firms.
As James said earlier, this is crude but effective Labour politics and appeals to areas where they are strongest. It appeals to the party’s base by bashing the rich and big business, while appealing to the wider electorate on an issue they care about and that annoys them. For many people who feel frustrated that it takes so long to get a GP appointment, it is a tangible pledge.
It is also an attempt to take on some of the work that Jeremy Hunt has done in styling himself as the patients’ champion.
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