Starmer’s Labour government is risking patient safety by shifting burdens instead of solving systemic issues. Though he claims, “I’m not interested in putting ideology before patients,” his plan reflects a Thatcherite push toward a two-tier healthcare system.

Under the plans, private health companies will be handed £2.5 billion to carry out an extra million treatments of NHS patients a year.

In 2023, a government-commissioned review led by former Labour health secretary Patricia Hewitt recommended that ministers “significantly reduce” the number of national NHS targets. Hewitt warned that an “excessive” focus on hitting these could lead to “gaming” of the targets or “even a disastrous neglect of patients themselves”.

With the class struggle suppressed and Labour in power, opportunity has been given to the far-right to scapegoat migrants for the deep social grievances of the working class.

During last summer's general election, the Labour Party and I campaigned on a promise that, if elected, we would slash NHS waiting lists, deliver thousands more appointments and ensure that no one waits longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment.

Yesterday, an event unfolded that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. A self-identifying socialist prime minister stood before a press conference and unveiled plans for a new wave of private sector involvement and patient choice in the National Health Service.

A councillor has resigned from the Labour Party following what they describe as the "grossly discriminatory decision" to ban puberty blockers.

Now we are at the start of a new year, six months into his Government, and starting to see the shape of this Labour administration as ministers ... The sickly state of the National Health Service is shown up by the fact there is a target for 92 per cent ...

Labour badly needs some tangible signs of progress that it’s delivering on its pledge to bring about a decade of national renewal.

As borrowing costs rise, the government has less money to spend on the country's creaking National Health Service, military, emergency services and schools.

Jeremy Corbyn’s criticism of Labour’s NHS plans has reignited debate over the role of private healthcare in the public system

Plaid Cymru has laid out a plan to address huge waiting lists in the NHS in Wales, which have hit record highs. Here, the party's health spokesperson Mabon ap Gwynfor details how they would do it.