A NEW investigation by Unite has found that since 2012 a scandalous £1.5 billion has left the NHS and gone into the pockets of just 15 private companies linked to 24 Tory MPs and Lords who voted for the Health and Social Care Act.
Many of these MPs and Lords have benefited from the combination of their links to private healthcare and the sell-off of the NHS.
The 24 Tory MPs and Lords include Prime Minister David Cameron, Andrew Lansley, Jo Johnson, William Hague and Nadhim Zahawi, Nick Herbert, David Ruffley, Chris Skidmore, Mark Simmonds, Nicholas Soames, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Kwasi Kwarteng.
Also on the list are Lord Blackwell, Baron Higgins of Worthing, Baroness Cumberledge, Baroness Wheatcroft, Baroness Bottomley, Lord Freeman, Lord Popat, Lord Patten, Lord Glendonbrook, Lord Hunt and Baroness James of Holland Park.
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: ‘This is a national scandal and the Tories must be held to account. The government had no mandate to sell-off our NHS but they did just that. You have to ask yourself why?
‘Since the vote to sell off our NHS, £12 billion pounds of our services are now in private hands.
‘Key clinical services including cancer care, blood analysis and mental health have been sold off or are up for sale.
‘It is time to scrap the Health and Social Care Act and save our NHS.’
McCluskey alleged: ‘David Cameron promised there would be no top-down reorganisation of the NHS, but he lied.
‘How can we be in a situation where dozens of his MPs voted for the sell-off and had links to private healthcare companies, knowing this would open up new opportunities for the companies that pay them?
‘It’s no wonder that calls to protect the NHS from TTIP, an EU-US trade deal that threatens to make the sell-off of the NHS permanent, are being ignored by the Tories.
‘The next election will be make or break for our NHS. It is clear what Cameron’s preferred path is – an American style health system.’
The £1.5 billion is only a proportion of the total value handed over and which continues to rise as a result of the Health and Social Care Act.
Meanwhile, Circle which was the first private company to take over the running of an NHS hospital have also recently been awarded a contract by Bedfordshire CCG as the prime contractor for musculoskeletal services worth £120 million over 5 years.
Circle investors are also donors to the Conservative Party and have given money to MPs’ offices. One of those investors, Robin Odey of Odey Asset Management has donated to the offices of Nicholas Soames, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Kwasi Kwarteng who used to work for Odey Management as an analyst, and Jo Johnson, head of the Number 10 policy unit. All voted for the bill.
MP and former Health Secretary Andrew Lansley, who co-wrote the Health and Social Care Bill received £21,000 to run his office from Caroline Nash the wife of John Nash when he was shadow health secretary. John Nash was chairman of Care UK at the time.
