Labour is demanding that condemns a report published by the Institute of
Economic Affairs (IEA) and pay back the donations he has received
from the organisation’s Chair. The report argues that there is
“no rational basis” for the public support NHS staff are
receiving, “no reason” to be grateful for the NHS and criticising
the “false narrative” that the NHS has done an amazing job during
the pandemic.
received donations totalling over £30,000 from IEA
Chair Neil Record. In a letter to the Health Secretary sent
today, Rayner says it is “deeply concerning” that the Health
Secretary is “bankrolled” by the IEA, which has long campaigned
for the abolition of the NHS and its replacement with a
privatised health service, when it is his job to “protect and
defend our country’s greatest institution – our National Health
Service – and stand up for our NHS staff who have sacrificed so
much throughout this pandemic to save lives and keep us
safe”.
Ends
Notes to Editors
Full text of letter below
Dear Matt,
I am writing to you regarding your relationship with the
Institute of Economic Affairs.
As I am sure you will know as a result of your
long-standing close relationship with the Institute of Economic
Affairs, their recent report ‘Viral Myths’ states that there is
“no rational basis” for the “adulation that the NHS is currently
receiving”, and “no reason to be ‘grateful’ for the fact that we
have it”. The report goes on to say that the idea that the NHS
has done an amazing job under the most difficult of circumstances
and has held the nation together is a “false narrative”.
This disgraceful attack on our NHS comes in the middle of a
deadly global pandemic after our NHS staff have worked round the
clock for almost a year to tackle this dreadful virus, save lives
and keep us all safe. Last month our NHS dealt with what was
tragically the deadliest month of the pandemic, a situation that
we should never have been in and a situation that was a direct
result of the government’s failure to control the virus, protect
our NHS and save lives.
It is also important to view the absolutely outstanding
performance of our publicly-run NHS in the context of the failure
of the government’s outsourced Test and Trace system which has
resulted in £22 billion of taxpayers’ money being wasted and
delivered into the pockets of Serco and their friends. It is our
NHS that is world-beating, not a Test and Trace system being run
by private companies for profit that has completely failed to
deliver.
Since becoming a Member of Parliament you have accepted
nine donations worth a total of £32,000 from Neil Record,
Chairman of the Institute of Economic Affairs. I am sure that
this report came as no surprise to you given the Institute of
Economic Affairs’ long-standing campaign to abolish our NHS and
replace it with a privatised healthcare system, which you were
well aware of when you accepted that money.
As Health Secretary it is your job to protect and defend our
country’s greatest institution – our National Health Service –
and stand up for our NHS staff who have sacrificed so much
throughout this pandemic to save lives and keep us safe. It is
therefore deeply concerning that our country’s Health Secretary
is so closely linked to, and has been bankrolled by, an
organisation which criticises our NHS and is committed to its
dismantling, abolition and replacement with a privatised
healthcare system.
I urge you to take steps to distance yourself from the
Institute of Economic Affairs, make a public statement to condemn
this report in the strongest terms and pay back the donations
that you have received from the Institute of Economic Affairs
Chairman Neil Record.
If you are committed to the protection of our NHS you must take
action immediately to assure NHS staff and the British people
that you don’t share the views of your donors at the Institute of
Economic Affairs that we should not be grateful for the NHS or
thank the NHS and its staff for their work during this
pandemic.
Yours Sincerely
Deputy Leader and Chair of the Labour Party
·Institute of Economic Affairs, Viral
Myths, https://iea.org.uk/publications/viral-myths-why-we-risk-learning-the-wrong-lessons-from-the-pandemic/
