Jeremy Corbyn vows to end hospital car parking charges and pause overhaul of healthcare services

Jeremy Corbyn met patients, staff and boss at MK Hospital on Thursday, before making his pledge to scrap parking charges at hospitals across the UK.
Jeremy Corbyn at MK HospitalJeremy Corbyn at MK Hospital
Jeremy Corbyn at MK Hospital

The Labour leader visited a number of wards, and spoke at length with chief executive Joe Harrison, before speaking about the changes he would make to the health services both locally and nationally.

He said: “It’s fundamentally wrong that out-patients, NHS workers and those visiting their loved ones are being forced to pay a tax on sickness.

Patients and visitors should not be subsidising the profits of outsourced private contractors who run almost half of these hospital car parks or make up for Tory underfunding of our NHS.

“Labour is committed to ending NHS hospital car park charges in England by making those who can afford private healthcare pay a bit more in tax.”

Under the proposed policy Labour would pay for free hospital car parking by increasing the rate of tax for private healthcare insurance products to 20 per cent.

Mr Corbyn added that underfunding of the NHS generally was one of voters’ biggest concerns.

He said: “From mental health to social care, people feel that the NHS is underfunded.

“The government hasn’t put in anything like enough money. We will put in an extra £8billion over the next Parliament.”

And Mr Corbyn said a Labour government would put the breaks on the Strategic Transformation Plan which is merging health services in MK, Bedford and Luton.

“Milton Keynes is growing,” he said. “There’s no need to reduce services.”