Labour turns up the heat on health reform

The exodus from Liverpool has begun, following Ed Miliband’s speech. This means that there will be scant coverage of the events that occur hereafter. Shadow Health Secretary John Healey recognised this and gave an interview to this morning’s Guardian in order to highlight the speech he will make tomorrow. Healey is clear, as Ed Miliband was earlier this afternoon, that the government’s NHS reforms are a costly disaster and betrayal of the British people. Healey adds that they also threaten David Cameron, who has made “promises he is now breaking”.

It’s good political posturing on a ‘Home’ issue for Labour. There is no indication that Healey will say anything new tomorrow, which is scarcely surprising as his strategy has been to defend the status quo in the health service. The problem for Healey is that there is growing evidence that the NHS must reform to control spiralling costs.