[L]ib Dem leader Tim Farron has announced the Lib Dems would plug funding gaps for the NHS and social care by putting a penny on income tax, in their first major manifesto commitment of the election campaign.
The tax would raise over £60million of additional funding for Cumbria, with £40million for Cumbria’s NHS and over £20million for social care each year.
This is the party’s flagship spending commitment and its first major policy announcement for the election. The Liberal Democrats manifesto will also set out a ‘five-point recovery plan’ for NHS and social care services in their manifesto.
At least 70% of Brits would happily pay an extra 1p in every pound if that money was guaranteed to go to the NHS, an ITV poll found last October.
Tim said: “Health and care services across Cumbria are in crisis, stretched to breaking point by the Conservatives’ cuts. We are seeing patients lying on trolleys in hospital corridors, urgent operations being cancelled and the elderly being denied the care they need.
“Only the Liberal Democrats are prepared to be honest with people and say that to secure the future of our NHS we will all need to chip in a little more. A penny in the pound would allow us to invest in improving local NHS services and ensuring the elderly receive the care they deserve.
“This Conservative government has left our health and care services chronically underfunded – and while the crisis gets worse they just don’t seem to care. We cannot continue asking the system to deliver more and more, without giving it the resources to do so.
“The NHS was once the envy of the world and these plans are the first step in restoring it to where it should be. While the Conservatives plan further cuts, the Lib Dems will invest in health and care.”
