Roy Hattersley defends Miliband over NHS election focus

Former Labour deputy leader Roy Hattersley has leapt to Ed Miliband’s defence, after the current leader received criticism from former ministers this week for relying on the NHS too much as an election issue. Alan Milburn and John Hutton made public their scepticism about Labour’s plans for the NHS, with former Health Secretary Milburn saying “major reform” was needed in the health service.

Following Neil Kinnock’s call for an end to “sniping from behind”, Hattersley has also come forward to attack the interventions. Hattersley, who was an MP for 33 years, appeared on Radio 4 this morning to slam Milburn for introducing competition into the NHS:

“It was a mistake to start it. I think Milburn is responsible for having starting it and it’s absolutely right that we are now going to reverse it,” he said.

“What he didn’t seem to understand in his interview was the privatisation of the health service, as we rightly to describe it, just doesn’t affect that element of the health service which is taken over by the private companies.

“It requires even the health service itself to operate in a competitive, capitalist fashion, which is paring costs, reducing services, reducing the level of care.

“The entire competition idea in the health service is dangerous for patients and that’s why we are right to oppose it.”

He also defended Miliband from claims that there was no clarity to his leadership, saying:

“Ed Miliband would produce a Britain which is greatly more fair than it is today, which is more equal than it is today. The need for and the demand for fairness and equality is overwhelming.”

Hattersley is no stranger himself to criticising Labour leaders from retirement: in 2006 he called for then Prime Minister Tony Blair to resign.