To many in conservative circles, the less said about Tory health policy the better. The Tories have seemingly decided that the best they can do is neutralise the issue politically and so have shied away from doing anything other than trying to win over the British Medical Association.
To be fair, this strategy has worked tactically: the Tories are now more trusted than Labour with the NHS, denying Labour of one of its traditional sources of electoral strength. However, it also means that the Tories are, to some extent, to the left of Labour on health as Janet Daley argues in the Telegraph today. (As for the BMA, do read Stephen’s brilliant dissection of its self-interested attitudes in The Times today).
Perhaps, the biggest problem, though, is that running on their current policy platform the Tories will have no mandate to reform the health service once in government. They will have to leave it to a second term.
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