General Election 2019: Labour releases NHS cancellations data as Tories unveil four domestic pledges
shaheennews
Labour and the Tories are going head to head on key domestic policies in a bid to win an early advantage before the election campaign formally gets under way.
Labour is publishing data which it claims reveals NHS operations cancelled due to staff shortages and equipment failures are up by a third in two years – despite pleas by two leading doctors’ groups for politicians not to use the health service to try and win votes.
The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and NHS Providers has warned that political parties risk making impossible election promises that set the service up to fail, but that is unlikely to deter Labour or the Conservatives.
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Labour claims figures it has obtained through Freedom of Information (FOI) requests show nearly 80,000 operations, either urgent or cancelled at the last minute, were called off last year.
The Conservatives are hitting back by unveiling a flurry of policy pledges, on low pay, law and order, education and travellers, and are announcing:
- An independent review backing Chancellor Sajid Javid’s plans for raising the national living wage;
- Investment at seven prisons to pay for equipment to tackle drug smuggling, phones and weapons behind bars;
- Funding for colleges and sixth forms to offer students more access to subjects like physics and engineering to help them get better paid jobs;
- Consultation on giving police powers to arrest trespassers who set up unauthorised caravan sites and seize their property.
