The health secretary Yvette Cooper MP appeared to tell the Labour Party conference last week that Reform UK’s “only health policy at the last election was a £1.7 billion tax break for private healthcare companies”.
This is not true. Reform’s 2024 manifesto outlined a series of policies on health.
While Ms Cooper didn’t explicitly mention Reform by name, it seems clear from her comments, which also mentioned cryptocurrency policies and a male leader, that it was the party she was referring to. We contacted Ms Cooper for comment but have not had a response.
Page 7 of Reform’s 2024 manifesto focused exclusively on health pledges, including:
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- “All frontline NHS and social care staff to pay zero basic rate tax for three years”
- “NHS patients will receive a voucher for private treatment if they can’t see a GP within three days”
- “Operating theatres must be open on weekends”
- “Tax incentives for new pharmacies and those who employ more staff to assist in relieving pressure on A&E.”
The policy Ms Cooper did mention in her speech seems to be a reference to Reform’s manifesto pledge for “tax relief of 20% on all private healthcare and insurance”. (The manifesto didn’t explicitly talk about applying this to “companies”.)
One of Ms Cooper’s predecessors as health secretary, Wes Streeting, has suggested that policy would cost £1.7 billion. That figure isn’t mentioned in Reform’s manifesto and we’ve not attempted to verify it here.