NHS BREXIT BOOST
Theresa May insists more cash for NHS can come from money we save by quitting EU as she promises £20bn spending boost
The Prime Minister also described her personal debt to the NHS over her battle with diabetes
THERESA May today vowed that extra cash for the NHS will come from the money saved by Brexit.
And she revealed her passion for the health service is deeply personal - because the NHS has treated her diabetes for years.
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But she also faced a backlash from opposition politicians and even some of her own MPs who claimed the "Brexit dividend" is a myth and won't help NHS funding.
Mrs May is set to unveil an extra £384million a week to go to the NHS as part of a 10-year plan to rescue the health service - or £600million after inflation.
She said this morning that the money, totalling £20billion a year in real terms, would come from a mixture of new taxes, increased borrowing and a saving from no longer having to send cash to the EU.
The PM told LBC: "We will be able, when we leave the European Union, to spend the money that otherwise we would have been sending to the European Union because currently we spend vast, significant sums of money each year to the EU.
MP Emily Thornberry is left speechless when she's told the Tories are promising MORE cash for the NHS than Labour
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"We'll be able to use that money on our priorities and the NHS is our number one priority and we as a country will contribute a bit more."
And speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, Mrs May added: "Of course we have to fund that, that will partly be through the Brexit dividend, the fact that we're no longer sending huge amounts of money to the EU."
But asked whether she would be able to fund the NHS if Brexit hadn't happened, she refused to respond.
The PM said: "The question as to whether I'd be sitting here and saying this if we were going to carry on in the EU is completely hypothetical, because we're not carrying on in the EU."
Mrs May insisted that the NHS cash boost would be even bigger than promised by the Vote Leave campaign ahead of the EU referendum.
Theresa May announces NHS will get £384 million A WEEK on LBC
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She said: "People may remember seeing a figure on the side of a bus - £350million extra a week for the NHS in cash.
"Actually, what we're doing, what I'm announcing means that in 2023/24, there will be around £600million a week in cash more, going into the NHS.
Boris Johnson, a leader of Vote Leave, tweeted: "Fantastic news on NHS funding - a down payment on the cash we will soon get back from our EU payments. #TakeBackControl #BrexitDividend".
Mrs May also warned health bosses they must up their game in order to improve cancer survival rates and mental health services.
And she vowed not to let the money be wasted by hiring endless waves of middle managers in the NHS.
Asked if she is truly passionate about the health service, Mrs May hit back: "I personally owe a lot to the NHS. I'm a Type 1 diabetic.
"The NHS was there for me both in diagnosing that and in supporting me ever since, so day in and day out, I am grateful personally to the NHS.
"I've really seen what the NHS means to somebody, not just on the odd day but actually for me day by day."
The PM's closest aide Gavin Barwell today echoed her words, writing on Twitter: "NHS was there for me when I was diagnosed with cancer as a child.
"Today @theresa_may sets out 5 year funding settlement agreed with NHS leaders as part of #longtermNHSplan that will ensure it is there for our children."
After the announcement, critics claimed taxes and borrowing would have to be hiked to pay for the NHS cash boost - insisting Brexit WON'T help the public finances.
Tory MP Sarah Wollaston, who chairs the Commons health committee, said today: "Don’t even begin to swallow any rubbish that this will be some Brexit bonanza. In reality the tax rises and borrowing will need to be higher as a result."
Economist Paul Johnson, head of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, added: "Extra spending can't be funded by Brexit dividend... there is no Brexit dividend."
Labour's Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: “The NHS is in crisis after eight years of Tory cuts and privatisation.
"Today's announcement confirms that Theresa May has failed to give the NHS the funding it needs, and much of the funding announced today is based on wishful thinking."
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Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell accused the Tories of relying on "a magic money forest".
He added: "We need to get absolute clarity now - is this coming from borrowing, are there going to be tax rises, where is this Brexit dividend that no one believes in?"
But Jeremy Corbyn's close ally Emily Thornberry was forced to admit that Labour's funding plans for the NHS less generous than the newly announced proposals.
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