National Health Action Party

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:00:16. > :00:22.It is time for the latest in a series of interviews with the

:00:23. > :00:28.smaller parties. The National health action party was founded in 2012

:00:29. > :00:35.buy-2-mac consultants who opposed an act which enacted wide-ranging

:00:36. > :00:38.reform in the NHS. It would start by repealing the social care act which

:00:39. > :00:43.would reverse the reforms including the removal of the retirement --

:00:44. > :00:47.requirement to tender a contract to the private sector. They will ensure

:00:48. > :00:50.that NHS funding increases by 4% every year in real terms. They would

:00:51. > :00:56.call for the abolition of prescription charges in England as

:00:57. > :00:59.is policy in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. They would

:01:00. > :01:03.introduce free social care and increase funding to meet the needs

:01:04. > :01:09.of tolerable elderly and disabled people. They want to safeguard

:01:10. > :01:16.collaboration with the EU on health issues and medical research. We are

:01:17. > :01:20.joined by the action party's Doctor Louise Irvin. It is standing in five

:01:21. > :01:26.seats in England. Why do we need your party? It started five years

:01:27. > :01:33.ago with the intention of fighting to defend the NHS a -- against cuts

:01:34. > :01:36.and privatisation. I feel that we needed more than ever. We've grown

:01:37. > :01:49.in support, we have a wide influence. I think we have in full

:01:50. > :01:53.and Labour Party policy. But it is a single issue party? It is not. We

:01:54. > :02:04.fight on all the broad principles of health, the education, environment,

:02:05. > :02:08.inequality, poverty. Which bits of the Labour Party manifesto have been

:02:09. > :02:12.written with you in mind? We are part of a broader movement which has

:02:13. > :02:17.moved Labour Party more towards, in the manifesto it talks about

:02:18. > :02:23.repealing the act, which we, as campaigners are going to campaign

:02:24. > :02:28.on. It has been very reluctant until now to address the issue of

:02:29. > :02:36.privatisation of the NHS. I welcome it but I feel we need people like

:02:37. > :02:40.our party and campaigners to help. You've got Louise to thank for the

:02:41. > :02:48.manifesto. It was under Labour that this started. For the first, I am

:02:49. > :02:55.pleased. Would you have done it without them? Yes. The party of the

:02:56. > :03:01.NHS of the Labour Party. We will put ?37 billion into the NHS to reduce

:03:02. > :03:06.the waiting list. We will put capital investment into the NHS, not

:03:07. > :03:12.by forcing hospitals to sell off land and assets. We will give

:03:13. > :03:16.hospitals the money to rebuild them. Would you rather see the Labour

:03:17. > :03:24.Party being elected than the Conservative Party. Yes as long as

:03:25. > :03:30.they stay true to their promises. Tony Blair promised to end the

:03:31. > :03:35.privatisation of the NHS and not go forward with PFI and they did the

:03:36. > :03:40.opposite in power. We cannot afford to completely trust what people say

:03:41. > :03:44.in their manifesto. When you say about the funding, your proposed

:03:45. > :03:50.funding will not meet the projected rate of growth if it kept up with

:03:51. > :03:56.GDP rates. You say the Labour Party is not going to keep pace with a

:03:57. > :04:00.growing elderly population. How would you find an increase in NHS

:04:01. > :04:10.funding of 4% in real terms every year. It is not a number we've

:04:11. > :04:14.picked out of the air. Good. This is what the OBR and other analysts say

:04:15. > :04:18.is the amount needed to meet the funding gap and maintain the quality

:04:19. > :04:25.of services and to meet growing demand. It is in keeping with the

:04:26. > :04:28.long-running average around other developed countries. I will not be

:04:29. > :04:35.part of the government and I will not be making detailed budgetary

:04:36. > :04:39.plans but what we will be doing is pushing government, who ever is in

:04:40. > :04:45.government, to meet that funding need and it could be done through

:04:46. > :04:51.taxation, in different ways, looking at tax avoidance, corporate tax,

:04:52. > :04:59.reducing bureaucracy in the NHS, investing in health and education.

:05:00. > :05:07.Do you accept that to meet the needs of a growing population you would

:05:08. > :05:13.need to look at funding a 4% in real terms in the NHS? I have a look at

:05:14. > :05:18.their manifesto and the problem is the aim is to have the average of

:05:19. > :05:22.most G-7 countries but most of them have insurance and contribution

:05:23. > :05:25.-based approach. We don't do that and are NHS is unique. We've

:05:26. > :05:33.invested more. Your answer is you would not do it. You've got to have

:05:34. > :05:38.a strong economy and the problem is all the wish lists, they are for the

:05:39. > :05:44.birds unless you have a strong economy. If you have a strong

:05:45. > :05:51.economy why could you not spend more? It is the only way you get

:05:52. > :06:00.revenue. A wish list is for the birds unless you deliver that.

:06:01. > :06:03.Is there no role for the private sector within the NHS?

:06:04. > :06:06.They could be a small role where there are gaps in

:06:07. > :06:08.You shouldn't structure the NHS around

:06:09. > :06:11.It is wasteful, it fragments and it is

:06:12. > :06:13.chaotic and it short-changes patients because it diverts money

:06:14. > :06:16.We would have an NHS which is substantially a

:06:17. > :06:21.public service and we want to bring legislation to reinstated as a

:06:22. > :06:23.public servers, more than just repealing the health and social care

:06:24. > :06:25.act, reversing all of the privatisation.

:06:26. > :07:01.We've heard about the fall in numbers of the police, 19,000, it

:07:02. > :07:06.has been reported as. You should never have cut the numbers of

:07:07. > :07:11.police. What we've done is protected counter-terrorism policing budgets.

:07:12. > :07:16.We funded and uplift and increase in the number of armed police. We are

:07:17. > :07:21.protecting overall police budgets in England and Wales. What we are also

:07:22. > :07:25.doing is ensuring the police and security services have the powers

:07:26. > :07:29.they need to be able to deal with the terrorists. So we've enhanced

:07:30. > :07:34.the powers available to them. Jeremy Corbyn has boasted that he has

:07:35. > :07:35.opposed every piece of anti-terrorist legislation since

:07:36. > :07:36.he's been in