Monday 30 November 2015

Wasting Mule Labour's mouthpiece again.


The Wasting Mule is at it again when it reports that

 Plaid Cymru has vowed it would spend all additional money the Welsh Government receives as a result of increased spending on the NHS in England on health and care in Wales.
Total spending on England’s Department of Health is due to rise from £116.4bn in 2015-16 to £133.1bn in 2020-21, and Plaid claims Wales could be in for an extra £945m as a result

Elin Jones, the party’s health spokeswoman, said:

 “Plaid Cymru promises people in Wales that every penny of additional money the Welsh Government receives as a result of extra health spending in England, we will invest in our health and care services in Wales. We recognise that in order to save and secure the NHS for future generations we need to invest in it now.
“In order to support the efforts of our dedicated NHS workers in delivering quality care to patients, we are making this important pledge. It is a disgrace that Labour, the so-called party of the NHS, has refused to match Plaid Cymru’s commitment.
“Even Tories in England are prepared to invest more in the NHS.”


But the Wasting Mule wouldn't be the  Wasting Mule if it did not quote  it seeming;y obligatory 2:Labour Spokesman" and the banner headline is 



Plaid Cymru pledges to put £945m windfall into health and care budgets - but Labour accuses party of 'economic illiteracy'

So the coverage becomes not a byline of a Plaid plan but about Labours denouncement.

 
A spokesman for First Minister Carwyn Jones said:

 “The Welsh Labour Government already invests more than England on health – and we’re committed to keeping that the same in the future. In contrast, Plaid Cymru’s economic illiteracy doesn’t get any worse than this...
“Our total consequential for next year is £110m, so what are Plaid going to cut to pay for their new fantasy promise? This is not a serious political party.
“They’ve yet to cost, let alone explain their massive health reorganisation that would tear the NHS apart in Wales. You can’t trust Plaid Cymru on the economy and you can’t trust them with our NHS.”
 
Intrestingly the spokesman is for Carwyn Jones not the  Minister for Health and Social Services in the Welsh Government, Mark Drayford . Maybe he was not available and Spokesman was .

In reality I can see an argument for not spending  all the £945m on the NHS considering it is not going to offset the cuts in the Welsh Block grant we can expect over the next 5 years.

Its rather like your Rich Uncle giving you some extra pocket money and then asking you what you want to spend it on and telling you you can't do that and need to spend it on  what he advises.

We need to consider whether we should invest in schemes  outside the NHS that affect peoples health and this includes job creation.

However we have got to the stage where the NHS is the only institution that you can't cur and must directly invest in.

As someone  who has ben waiting to see a consultant  for 8 months to see how complications after my last operation can be resolved and will then after wait probably the same time to have another operation (though non urgent) I should have an interest in more money being poured into the NHS but part of me believes that it can be improved from a top down shake up.

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