David Cameron did, as James says, manage to avoid debating the rather more electorally damaging issue of the A&E crisis at Prime Minister’s Questions today because Ed Miliband chose to talk about the TV debates instead. But he still had a good opportunity to raise the Labour leader’s refusal to confirm or deny that he had said he wanted to ‘weaponise’ the NHS as an issue.
When Labour’s Toby Perkins asked him whether he was ashamed of what happens when the Tories run the NHS, Cameron replied:
‘Now he quite rightly says it’s very important that we conduct this debate in a very good and civilised way. Now at the weekend, the leader of the Opposition was asked seven times whether he had used the phrase that he wanted to weaponise the NHS. Seven times he refused to answer the question! Everybody knows that he said those words and if he had a shred of decency in him he would get up and explain he shouldn’t have said those words and apologise!’
This worked particularly well for Cameron because Miliband couldn’t respond either, as these were the backbench questions. But chances are that Miliband wouldn’t have wanted to respond away, given the number of times he and his advisers have dodged questions on this matter.
So what could have been an awkward moment for Ed has indeed turned into a week-long row, with ‘weaponise’ being brought up at not one but two Prime Minister’s Questions. It will be impressive if Cameron brings that word up again next week, but undoubtedly the Conservatives will deploy ‘weaponise’ as often as they possibly can in the run-up to the General Election.
As I say in today’s Times, Miliband should have said that he had indeed used the word ‘weaponise’ and adopt an unapologetic attitude while doing so: ‘Yes, I want to weaponise the NHS against it being privatised by the Tories.’ Instead he’s had to sit tight and hope the row will go away, even though he is the one who enjoys the poll lead on this issue.
While few in the party disagree that Labour has ‘weaponised’ the NHS, some argue that it has done it in the wrong way. One Labour source in Parliament suggests it would have been better for Miliband and Andy Burnham to go to target seats where there are problems with hospitals and connect them with the Tories by pointing out that David Cameron reorganised the NHS when he had promised not to. Those thinkers worry that by having a national message on NHS crisis, Labour will sound like prophets of doom to voters whose local NHS services aren’t too bad at all and thus the noise will have less of an effect. But to be fair to Miliband and co, the party continues to lead on the NHS, and the Tories continue to appear toxic to voters on this matter, so the approach can’t be hurting them too much.
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