Neil Gray was continuously interrupted on a BBC Newsnight special tackling the issue of the NHS on Wednesday night.
Scotland’s Health Secretary was attempting to respond to an attack on the SNP’s NHS record from Labour’s Wes Streeting – who joined him on the panel alongside Liberal Democrat Helen Morgan – with journalist Victoria Derbyshire then cutting him short.
“When the SNP came to power in 2007, health spending per person was 17% higher than in England. Today, it's 3%. So the choices that successive SNP ministers have made in Scotland has squeezed the budget,” Streeting said.
“And even now in Scotland, a nurse is paying a higher rate of taxation than a nurse in England at the same time as you oppose a real windfall tax on oil and gas companies because of the SNP’s vested interests.”
The shadow health secretary then accused the SNP of also increasing use of the private sector since 2018.
“So don't just sit there blaming the Conservatives. Take some responsibility for your own government,” Streeting added.
Why does the BBC keep interrupting @neilcgray for calmly pointing out that Labour’s plans for the NHS offer *even less funding* than what the Tories have delivered? Labour are arrogant because of their huge poll lead, but they can’t duck scrutiny over their austerity plans. pic.twitter.com/YDDPQT0o9w
— Olaf Stando 🌻 (@OlafSNP) June 19, 2024
Gray then looked to respond to the direct attack (above), with Derbyshire then saying he had just “one sentence”.
“If we had followed the spending plans of Westminster, we would have has cumulative £15 billion less spend over the time of government of the SNP in Scotland,” Gray said.
He then attempted to address Labour’s plans, with Derbyshire then cutting him off by saying that “Labour can talk about their plans”.
Gray responded: “He's directly attacked the SNP government's record in Scotland and I wish to challenge the situation that has been offered by the Labour Party.
“Labour Party's investment, so-called investment in the health service, would be worth £134 million in Scotland. That's less than what was passed on by the Tories the last time round and would be barely enough to cover a 1% pay rise for our NHS staff,” Gray said.
“Imagine putting that to our workers in the health service,” he added before the BBC journalist again cut him off, repeating "thank you" and "thank you Neil Gray" to pass the mic on to Morgan.
