Brexit could means billions in NHS cuts by 2020, warns Alexander

Leaving the EU could lead to £10 billion being slashed from the NHS’s budget, Shadow Health Secretary Heidi Alexander warned today.

Speaking to public sector union Unison, Alexander spelled out how Brexit could lead to billions of pounds worth of cuts to the health service over the next four years – and said there are “huge unknowns” about what would happen to tens of thousands of NHS workers.

She dismissed claims from the Out campaigns that leaving the EU would lead to more money for the health service as “utter nonsense”, and said that those championing a vote to leave are “people who don’t believe in the NHS”.

“A vote to leave the EU is a very real threat to the NHS,” she said.

“The NHS cash crisis is already the worst in its history. But, if we vote to leave Europe in two weeks’ time we risk plunging the health service into an even deeper crisis.

“In the worst case scenario, the Tories would have to cut the Department of Health’s budget by £10 billion to meet their promise of balancing the books by the end of the decade. These are cuts that would be bad for staff and bad for patient care.

“There are also huge unknowns about what would happen to the tens of thousands of staff from the EU who are working in hospitals up and down the country helping to deliver excellent care to patients.

“The Leave camps’ promises of extra money to the NHS are complete and utter nonsense. These are people who don’t believe in the NHS and would put it at risk if they had the chance.”