Rishi Sunak has made much of his admiration for Margaret Thatcher. But the Tory leader is no Iron Lady when it comes to being straight with the public.
Thatcher was never shy when telling people exactly what she thought – even though it often portrayed her in a negative light.
When it came to bypassing the NHS and paying for private healthcare, Thatcher freely admitted in the 80s that her family did it on a regular basis.
Few in Scotland were fans of Thatcher – but at least she gave a straight answer on this point. Asked the same question yesterday, our current Tory PM refused to answer.
Sunak insisted whether he does or does not pay for healthcare “is not relevant”.
It’s a ridiculous stance that does not stand up to scrutiny.
The PM heads a government that decides health and spending policies. The public has a right to know if he shares the consequences of these decisions.
Sunak’s dad was a GP and claims to be from an “NHS family” as a result. But the suspicion lingers our PM would simply pay for treatment if he ever needed it.
That’s simply not an option for the vast majority of the public.
Most people are left facing record waiting times for many procedures as the health service struggles to cope.
Sunak may not be in charge of the health service in Scotland, where the SNP government is under pressure over its handling of the winter NHS crisis. But his party’s austerity agenda has starved all public services across the UK of vital funds.
That means a growing number of patients have reluctantly resorted to going private in order to get operations such as hip or knee replacements – with many people getting into debt or remortgaging their homes to do so.
Yet Sunak won’t tell voters if he’s willing to jump the queue to secure quicker medical procedures for him or his family using their massive wealth.
He should have the political courage to admit whether he would go private.
After all, he’s the one who says we’re all in this together.
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