Families want the peace of mind and security of a high-quality health system that is free at the point of use. Those are the values of the NHS, and they are values I share. I believe that everyone has the right to high-quality healthcare, delivered for free, when and where they need it. But today, they are being let down by Labour.
Last Sunday, eight years after promising to "save the NHS", and just weeks before an election, Tony Blair made more pledges to tackle these problems, many of which his government has created. But think about it. A country, one of the wealthiest in the world, with record levels of spending on healthcare, and a prime minister boasting of his new ambition: to guarantee to treat people within 18 weeks. Anywhere else in Europe, and he would be treated with derision.
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