Council leader Barry Rawlings and cabinet member for health and wellbeing Alison Moore said NHS achievements are now in danger

Hendon Town Hall and (inset) council leader Barry Rawlings

Labour Party leaders in Barnet have celebrated the 75th birthday of the NHS by calling for the election of a Labour government that “cares for” the service.

Council leader Barry Rawlings said: “Up to an estimated 20,000 Barnet residents work in healthcare, and the vast majority of those are part of the NHS.

“I want to thank them for being part of one of Britain’s greatest achievements: The understanding as a society that healthcare is a right, not a privilege; and that no one should fear being turned away for treatment because they cannot afford to pay.

“You treat us like citizens exercising our rights – not customers you seek to extract the most money from for the least possible service in return. It is an everyday miracle.”

However, Labour used the milestone to draw attention to data showing that, while public satisfaction peaked with the NHS at the end of Labour’s most recent term in office in 2010 at 70 per cent, by 2022 it had dropped 29 per cent – a situation that the party blames on 13 years of Conservative government.

Barnet cabinet member for health and wellbeing Alison Moore said: “When Labour came to power in 1997, the NHS was in crisis. But by pursuing ‘prudence with a purpose’, Labour showed you can run government finances properly and make the NHS the envy of the world, despite all the challenges. The British people know we can do it again because we have done it before.

“We need a Labour government now that cares for our NHS as much as it cares for us and that will make sure that a child born today also knows it will be there for them in 75 years time.”

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