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Wes Streeting is set to accuse Nigel Farage of “selling out” working people with his health policies as Labour launches a fresh attack on Reform UK.
On a visit to the North West on Friday, the health secretary will say the Reform leader’s plans would “dismantle our NHS from top to bottom”.
Looking ahead to the local elections on 1 May, in which Labour is set to face a renewed threat from Reform, Streeting will argue that a vote for the party would give Farage a “green light” to go further.
Streeting is set to call on the Clacton MP to “come clean with voters” about Reform’s healthcare proposals.
Labour says that under an insurance-based system of health care, which it accuses Farage of proposing, Britons could be left paying over £120 for a GP appointment — with an A&E visit potentially setting people back by upwards of £1,300.
The party is claiming that routine operations like hip replacements could cost as much as £23,000.
Labour is pointing to a statement Farage made in 2012, when he said Britain will need to “think about health care very, very differently”.
Speaking on his “common sense tour” of Britain as leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), Farage stated: “I think we are going to have to move to an insurance-based system of health care.”
He added: “Frankly, I would feel more comfortable that my money would return value if I was able to do that through the market place of an insurance company than just us trustingly giving £100 billion a year to central government and expecting them to organise the healthcare service from cradle to grave for us.”
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Labour is also referencing a recent interview Farage did with LBC, in which he suggested he is “open to anything” when it comes to reforming the NHS.
Asked further if he would be open to moving to a “French style insurance model for the NHS”, the Clacton MP responded: “I mean the French have a mutual system where you pay in to effectively an insurance scheme.”
Farage added: “Now you know, I’m not saying we should absolutely mimic the French system, but let’s have a much deeper, broader thing.”
Reflecting on the Reform leader’s remarks ahead of the local elections, Streeting will claim he has “no plan for the country beyond fawning over Putin and plotting to dismantle our health service”.
The health secretary will say: “Nigel Farage’s plan to make hard-working families pay eye-watering sums to get treatment when they’re sick is enough to send a shiver down the spine of the nation. Everyone deserves a world-class health service, not just the wealthy.
“Labour is investing in the NHS, Farage would cut it and give the money to the wealthiest. Labour is bringing waiting lists down, Farage would send them soaring. Labour is giving people their NHS back, Farage would give them a bill.
“It is the mission of the Labour government to get the NHS back on its feet. Our Plan for Change has already delivered an extra 2 million appointments — and waiting lists have come down 5 months in a row.
“Labour is rebuilding our NHS so that it is there for you when you need it. When you fall ill, you should never have to worry about the bill.”
Labour is going for Reform UK and Nigel Farage on the NHS, if the below attack ads are anything to go by
Both went live on 25 March with the caption: “Our NHS is not safe in Nigel Farage’s hands.”The first shows a clip of Farage on his ‘common sense tour’ in 2012 1/…
— Josh Self (@josh-self.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T19:31:02.492Z
This week, Labour began running attack ads on Facebook taking aim at its appraisal of Reform UK’s NHS policies.
Two ads, which went live on 25 March, claim that a GP appointment would cost £129, an MRI scan £447 and an ambulance £1,045 “under Reform”. In one video, which purports to explain “what Farage’s NHS plan means for your wallet”, voters are confronted with these costings in a vox pop style format.
One individual responds: “If I had to pay that, then that’s disgusting isn’t it?”
Another commented: “Over a grand to ring out an ambulance is ridiculous. Yeah, that’s a joke.”
Josh Self is Editor of Politics.co.uk, follow him on Bluesky here.
Politics.co.uk is the UK’s leading digital-only political website. Subscribe to our daily newsletter for all the latest news and analysis.
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