Sir Keir Starmer's party wants to 'obliterate' Reform UK in the polls by targeting Nigel Farage's controversial views on the NHS.

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.

Labour will step up its attacks on Nigel Farage’s views on the NHS as it tries to halt Reform UK’s surge in the polls, HuffPost UK can reveal. Farage has repeatedly floated the idea of introducing a French-style insurance model for the health service.

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”.

The new administration’s honeymoon period has been brutally short and unforgiving, even by U.K. political standards.