Andy Burnham MP, Shadow Health Secretary, commenting on Norman Lamb’s calls for an extra £1.5 billion of funding to prevent the NHS from crashing said:

“You can’t trust a word the Lib Dems say. If the NHS is facing a crash then it is as a result of their and the Tories’ policies.

“This is breathtaking hypocrisy, even for the Lib Dems. Thanks to them it’s getting harder to see your GP, waiting lists are up and £3bn has been wasted on a top-down reorganisation while frontline staff have been lost. This is the record of this Government: an NHS going backwards under the Tories, made possible thanks to the support and the votes of the Lib Dems. Rather than bickering amongst themselves the Lib Dems and Tories should be focussing on fixing the mess they’ve made of the NHS.

“Only Labour will rescue the NHS with an extra £2.5 billion a year on top of Tory spending plans which will fund new staff including 20,000 more nurses – investment the Tories and the Lib Dems will not match.”