Rishi Sunak is under fire after dodging questions about whether he uses private health care, with Nigel Farage demanding the Prime Minister “tell us the truth”.
The Conservative leader has repeatedly refused to reveal whether he has private health care, and yesterday claimed it wasn’t “relevant”.
In a video on Twitter, Nigel said: “So the NHS in deep crisis and the Prime Minister refusing to answer whether he's got private health care.
Nigel Farage has called for Rishi Sunak to 'tell the truth'
Twitter @Nigel_Farage
“Come clean, Rishi. It's not a sin. Even Wes Streeting, the Labour Shadow Health Minister is saying if Labour get in, they will use the private sector to help cut the backlog. So come on, Prime Minister, tell us the truth.”
The GB presenter continued to say that he already knows Sunak has private health cover but “it’s nothing to be ashamed of”.
He added: “Actually, we should be saying thank you to everybody that opts out of the NHS and uses their own money, leaving more resources for everybody else. I’d go further, I’d go much further.
“The government should actually help with tax incentives to get people off the NHS into the private sector, which can adapt to demand much more quickly than a state-run organisation.”
Nigel concluded by saying: “That's the only way to relieve the pressure. Let's encourage it, not demonise it.”
When questioned yesterday by the BBC about whether he had used private healthcare to avoid queues himself, Sunak said: “As a general policy I wouldn’t ever talk about me or my family’s healthcare situation.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has refused to say whether he has private health care
Oli Scarff
“But it’s not really relevant, what’s relevant is the difference I can make to the country.”
He added: “But when it comes to the private sector in general, we should be making use of the independent sector. I don’t have any problem with that whatsoever.”