Daisy Cooper conference speech: Liberals designed the NHS, the government should use our ideas to save it

EMBARGO: 00:01 Monday 16th September

Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper will today (16th September) urge the Health Secretary to “take up our ideas” to rescue the NHS after the Conservatives “ripped away people’s freedom” and “brought the NHS to its knees”.

In her speech to Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference in Brighton, the Party’s Deputy Leader will put rescuing the NHS at the heart of her speech and say that standing up for the health services is a liberal idea as “you don’t have freedom if you’re on a waiting list”. 

She will go on to slam the Conservatives legacy on the NHS saying that it “could not be worse” and that our NHS is not safe in the hands of the Conservatives and that’s why we will “finish the job” in demolishing the Blue Wall.

Talking about her personal experience of how the NHS “gave me my life back”, Daisy Cooper will challenge the government to “make the Autumn Budget a Budget to save the NHS and care”. The Liberal Democrats are putting forward ideas to recruit thousands for GPs, ending dental deserts and fixing crumbling hospitals. 

On the NHS being the Party’s top priority:

“First and foremost, the top priority in parliament for our 72 Liberal Democrat MPs is being champions for our local health and care services.

“When my team and I set out to develop our key manifesto pledges, we did so knowing that our ideas on health and care could not just transform our electoral prospects - they could transform people’s lives. Because Conference, that is what good health and care services do – they transform people’s lives.

On healthcare being a Liberal principle:

“As liberals, we don’t blindly defend the NHS as an institution. We defend it because it’s an idea and because of its founding principles.

“You don’t have freedom, if you’re on a waiting list so long that your world shrinks and you’re stuck hobbling at home between a couple of rooms.

“Good health means you are free to live your life as you choose. And if you live with ill health, then good health and care services can help you live your best life, for as long as possible. Decent health and care services are the bedrock of a liberal society. 

On the Conservatives disastrous legacy:

“The Conservatives legacy could not be worse. They've left the nation’s health in a terrible state, ripping away people’s freedom to live their lives to the full.

“They promised to recruit 6000 GPs. Promised to build 40 new hospitals. Promised that cancer patients could start treatment within 62 days. And they broke every one of those promises.

“We must keep their hands off it. We must keep taking the fight to the Tories. We must finish the job.

On Labour:

“We have a message for Labour too. The NHS was a liberal idea, driven forward by Labour. Designed by Beveridge, driven forward by Bevan.

“So Wes if you’re listening –  take up our ideas or put forward your own and if we support them, we’ll back you. But if you don’t act with the right level of ambition, we’ll hold your feet to the fire.”

ENDS