Theresa May must spell out Tory policies after Dominic Raab gaffe - Ian Lavery

Theresa May must spell out Tory policies after Dominic Raab gaffe

Labour is calling on Theresa May to end the confusion over funding for our NHS and schools after a gaffe by Conservative MP Dominic Raab.

On the Victoria Derbyshire programme this morning, Dominic Raab suggested money for the NHS would be found by cutting free school meals for infants.

When pressed on the issue, he said: “Well, look we’ve said things like means testing the winter fuel payment. I’m giving an illustration of the difficult decisions, like saying that we wouldn’t be subsidising free school lunches for well-off parents, we don’t think that’s the right thing to do. We’d rather the money went into teaching and the NHS.”

The suggestion the NHS would benefit is at odds with the Conservative manifesto, which says: “The savings made from [cutting free school meals] will be added to the core schools budget, meaning that every penny saved will go towards children’s education.”

Meanwhile, the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies has confirmed that there is not a single penny of extra funding for the NHS in the Conservatives’ manifesto.

The latest chaos and confusion about Tory policy comes after the unravelling of their proposal for free school breakfasts, when it was found it would only amount to 6.8p per meal, and the announcement of an unspecified cap on social care costs being charged against people’s homes.

Ahead of tonight’s leaders’ debate and interview with Jeremy Paxman, Labour is challenging Theresa May to end the uncertainty by coming clean on what a Conservative government would mean:

 ·         How many pensioners will lose their winter fuel payments?

·         What will the cap be on social care costs for people with conditions such as dementia?

·         Will there be increases in National Insurance contributions and income tax?

·         Is the Institute for Fiscal Studies right to say there will be five years of austerity for the NHS?

·         How will they fund their school breakfast proposal (replacing free school meals) now their original 6.8p figure is discredited?

Ian Lavery, Labour’s National Election Coordinator, said:

“Theresa May has already thrown millions of pensioners into uncertainty over her dementia tax policy and now her funding for our NHS and schools is in disarray. If even her own spokespeople don’t know where the money is coming from or where it’s going, how on earth do they expect the British people to know?

“You can’t trust a word Theresa May and the Tories say, the flip-flopping and backsliding is getting ridiculous. There is a very clear choice at this election, between a Conservative party that is betraying pensioners, threatening tax rises for millions of families and promising five more years of austerity for our NHS and schools, and a Labour party with a fully costed plan for the many not the few.”