The Yorkshire Post says: Welcome funding boost for the NHS

THERESA May's announcement of a major funding boost for the NHS is undoubtedly very good news, and will be welcomed by the people of Britain who hold it more dearly to their hearts than any other public service.

The NHS has suffered major funding challenges not just for years, but for decades. The intractable problem of an expanding and ageing population means that pressure on services has increased relentlessly and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

It has become increasingly clear that if the NHS is to meet the demands placed upon it, there needed to be a step-change in the level of funding it receives. Even though, in percentage terms, the new investment is less than the NHS Confederation wanted, the Government’s announcement represents such a change.

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Even though that is to be welcomed, and a cause for optimism over the service’s future, the fundamental question of how increased spending will be funded remains unanswered.

It appears likely that increased borrowing and taxation will be necessary, since doubt has been cast on whether the so-called “Brexit dividend” – money diverted to the NHS rather than going to the EU in payments – will cover the investment.

And the Government’s difficulties over Brexit are central to Mrs May’s announcement.

Politically, it is 
vulnerable to attacks from Labour on its stewardship of the NHS. Also, the Prime Minister needs to appease the pro-Brexit wing of her party which made spending on the service central to its campaign to leave the EU.

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Nevertheless, that should not detract from the sincerity of Mrs May’s wish to safeguard the future of the NHS as the 70th anniversary of its founding approaches. However, Britain’s people must accept that if the service is to be everything they want, they will have to pay for it.