President Trump sparked strong reactions following a tweet on 5 February in which he stated the National Health Service ‘isn’t working’.
Criticising US Democrats who are calling for a universal health system, and referencing the rally in London which called for an end to health service budget cuts and constraints, the US President wrote on Twitter: “The Democrats are pushing for Universal HealthCare while thousands of people are marching in the UK because their U system is going broke and not working. Dems want to greatly raise taxes for really bad and non-personal medical care. No thanks!”
Many UK politicians responded angrily on Twitter, with health secretary Jeremy Hunt commenting: “I may disagree with claims made on that march but not ONE of them wants to live in a system where 28m people have no cover. NHS may have challenges but I’m proud to be from the country that invented universal coverage - where all get care no matter the size of their bank balance.”
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tweeted: “Wrong. People were marching because we love our NHS and hate what the Tories are doing to it. Healthcare is a human right.”
Prime minister Theresa May publicly backed Jeremy Hunt’s tweet, with a spokesperson telling The Guardian: “Jeremy Hunt is the health secretary and of course he speaks for the government on these matters.
“The prime minister is proud of having an NHS which is free at the point of delivery. NHS funding is at a record high, and was prioritised in the budget with an extra £2.8 billion. In the recent Commonwealth Fund international survey the NHS was rated the best in the world for a second time.”
