Peter Parka
Well-Known Member
NHS attack by MEP 'unpatriotic'
Health Secretary Andy Burnham has accused a Tory MEP who attacked the NHS on American TV of being "unpatriotic".
Labour has stepped up its criticism of Daniel Hannan, with John Prescott recording a YouTube message to the American people defending the NHS.
Tory leader David Cameron has insisted the NHS is his "number one priority" and dismissed Mr Hannan as "eccentric".
The MEP described Britain's health service a "60 year mistake" in a debate on Barack Obama's health reforms.
Labour and the Lib Dems have seized on the comments - and others made last week on Fox News - to claim that they represent the views of many in the Conservative Party.
Mr Burnham said: "What has happened within the last 48 hours is what Cameron has feared most because it lays bare the Tories' deep ambivalence towards the NHS."
'Insult'
And he hit back at criticism that the government had not done enough to defend the NHS from attacks in the US, saying: "We will stand up for the NHS and we will make sure that it is properly represented in the international media. And that is why what Mr Hannan has done disappoints me so much.
“ The Conservative Party stands four square behind the NHS ”
Conservative leader David Cameron
"I would almost feel... it is unpatriotic because he is talking in foreign media and not representing, in my view, the views of the vast majority of British people and actually, I think giving an unfair impression of the National Health Service himself, a British representative on foreign media."
He said Mr Hannan's words were an "insult" to the 1.4m NHS workers and "he should not be voicing those views in the foreign media in my view".
Former deputy prime minister John Prescott has recorded a video message to the American people defending the NHS, which has come under fire from critics of Barack Obama's health reforms.
In the clip, recorded on the House of Commons terrace, Mr Prescott accuses Mr Hannan of "misrepresentation of the NHS here in Britain" and says the British people are "proud of our health service".
But the Conservatives have accused Labour of "making a meal" of the row and shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley challenged the government to match "real terms increases" in health spending pledged by the Tories.
But Mr Cameron, who has sought to portray the Conservatives as the party of the NHS, and has said health spending will be protected from cuts under a Tory government, said the health service was a "great national institution".
"The Conservative Party stands four square behind the NHS," he told BBC News in his Oxfordshire constituency.
"We are the party of the NHS, we back it, we are going to expand it, we have ring-fenced it and said that it will get more money under a Conservative government, and it is our number one mission to improve it."
'Worst nightmare'
And he rebuked Mr Hannan, whose trenchant views on Europe and strongly-worded YouTube attack on Gordon Brown have gained him a following among grassroots Tories, saying: "He does have some quite eccentric views about some things, and political parties always include some people who don't toe the party line on one issue or another issue."
HAVE YOUR SAY I totally support the NHS. Emergency care is available for all - not just for those who can afford it Queenie Bishop, East Grinstead
The Leader of the Conservative group in the European Parliament has said he believes Mr Hannan should be disciplined for his comments about the NHS.
Timothy Kirkhope said Mr Hannan should be given a "stern talking-to" by the chief whip in Brussels, although he described the disciplinary process regarding Euro MPs as a grey area in this case, as Mr Hannan was speaking about a policy area not decided by the European Parliament.
Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb claimed Mr Hannan's views, far from being "maverick", were shared by "many people within the Conservative Party".
He also hit back at criticisms of the NHS from Republican-supporting critics of Obama's health bill as a "gross distortion" of the truth about Britain's health service.
It comes after Prime Minister Gordon Brown joined a Twitter campaign to defend the NHS.
The welovetheNHS tag has received tens of thousands of messages of support during the past few days from NHS staff and former patients after it was branded "Orwellian" and "evil" by Republican critics of Mr Obama's health reforms.
The prime minister took the unusual step of adding his voice to the campaign in a message posted from Downing Street's Twitter feed, in which he said "thanks for always being there". His wife Sarah, also sent a message of support to the campaign.
Many of the Twitter messages reacted angrily to Mr Hannan's criticism of the NHS, which he attacked on US TV, saying he "wouldn't wish it on anyone".
US critics of the NHS see it as an overly-bureaucratic "socialized" system which rations care.
But one British woman said she felt duped after becoming the unwitting star of an anti-Obama health campaign.
Kate Spall, who appeared in a US free market group's TV commercial opposing Mr Obama's health bill, said her views were misrepresented.
She told the Times: "It has been a bit of a nightmare. It was a real test of my naivety. I am a very trusting person and for me it has been a big lesson. I feel I was duped."
Ms Spall and fellow Briton Katie Brickell's descriptions of poor treatment at the hands of the NHS featured in the Conservatives for Patients' Rights (CPR) advert.
Story from BBC NEWS:
Typical Labour, so desperate now that they jump all over one Conservative nut job and try and portray it as a representation of all Conservatives with absolutely no basic. Just as bad as Fox news wetting themself because one nut job Brit dosen't like the NHS.
Health Secretary Andy Burnham has accused a Tory MEP who attacked the NHS on American TV of being "unpatriotic".
Labour has stepped up its criticism of Daniel Hannan, with John Prescott recording a YouTube message to the American people defending the NHS.
Tory leader David Cameron has insisted the NHS is his "number one priority" and dismissed Mr Hannan as "eccentric".
The MEP described Britain's health service a "60 year mistake" in a debate on Barack Obama's health reforms.
Labour and the Lib Dems have seized on the comments - and others made last week on Fox News - to claim that they represent the views of many in the Conservative Party.
Mr Burnham said: "What has happened within the last 48 hours is what Cameron has feared most because it lays bare the Tories' deep ambivalence towards the NHS."
'Insult'
And he hit back at criticism that the government had not done enough to defend the NHS from attacks in the US, saying: "We will stand up for the NHS and we will make sure that it is properly represented in the international media. And that is why what Mr Hannan has done disappoints me so much.
“ The Conservative Party stands four square behind the NHS ”
Conservative leader David Cameron
"I would almost feel... it is unpatriotic because he is talking in foreign media and not representing, in my view, the views of the vast majority of British people and actually, I think giving an unfair impression of the National Health Service himself, a British representative on foreign media."
He said Mr Hannan's words were an "insult" to the 1.4m NHS workers and "he should not be voicing those views in the foreign media in my view".
Former deputy prime minister John Prescott has recorded a video message to the American people defending the NHS, which has come under fire from critics of Barack Obama's health reforms.
In the clip, recorded on the House of Commons terrace, Mr Prescott accuses Mr Hannan of "misrepresentation of the NHS here in Britain" and says the British people are "proud of our health service".
But the Conservatives have accused Labour of "making a meal" of the row and shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley challenged the government to match "real terms increases" in health spending pledged by the Tories.
But Mr Cameron, who has sought to portray the Conservatives as the party of the NHS, and has said health spending will be protected from cuts under a Tory government, said the health service was a "great national institution".
"The Conservative Party stands four square behind the NHS," he told BBC News in his Oxfordshire constituency.
"We are the party of the NHS, we back it, we are going to expand it, we have ring-fenced it and said that it will get more money under a Conservative government, and it is our number one mission to improve it."
'Worst nightmare'
And he rebuked Mr Hannan, whose trenchant views on Europe and strongly-worded YouTube attack on Gordon Brown have gained him a following among grassroots Tories, saying: "He does have some quite eccentric views about some things, and political parties always include some people who don't toe the party line on one issue or another issue."
HAVE YOUR SAY I totally support the NHS. Emergency care is available for all - not just for those who can afford it Queenie Bishop, East Grinstead
The Leader of the Conservative group in the European Parliament has said he believes Mr Hannan should be disciplined for his comments about the NHS.
Timothy Kirkhope said Mr Hannan should be given a "stern talking-to" by the chief whip in Brussels, although he described the disciplinary process regarding Euro MPs as a grey area in this case, as Mr Hannan was speaking about a policy area not decided by the European Parliament.
Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb claimed Mr Hannan's views, far from being "maverick", were shared by "many people within the Conservative Party".
He also hit back at criticisms of the NHS from Republican-supporting critics of Obama's health bill as a "gross distortion" of the truth about Britain's health service.
It comes after Prime Minister Gordon Brown joined a Twitter campaign to defend the NHS.
The welovetheNHS tag has received tens of thousands of messages of support during the past few days from NHS staff and former patients after it was branded "Orwellian" and "evil" by Republican critics of Mr Obama's health reforms.
The prime minister took the unusual step of adding his voice to the campaign in a message posted from Downing Street's Twitter feed, in which he said "thanks for always being there". His wife Sarah, also sent a message of support to the campaign.
Many of the Twitter messages reacted angrily to Mr Hannan's criticism of the NHS, which he attacked on US TV, saying he "wouldn't wish it on anyone".
US critics of the NHS see it as an overly-bureaucratic "socialized" system which rations care.
But one British woman said she felt duped after becoming the unwitting star of an anti-Obama health campaign.
Kate Spall, who appeared in a US free market group's TV commercial opposing Mr Obama's health bill, said her views were misrepresented.
She told the Times: "It has been a bit of a nightmare. It was a real test of my naivety. I am a very trusting person and for me it has been a big lesson. I feel I was duped."
Ms Spall and fellow Briton Katie Brickell's descriptions of poor treatment at the hands of the NHS featured in the Conservatives for Patients' Rights (CPR) advert.
Story from BBC NEWS:
Typical Labour, so desperate now that they jump all over one Conservative nut job and try and portray it as a representation of all Conservatives with absolutely no basic. Just as bad as Fox news wetting themself because one nut job Brit dosen't like the NHS.
