RIGHT in the immediate wake of the dreadful Brexit and Trump lies to get the popular vote, we now have it fully revealed how PM May’s and Health Secretary Hunt’s proclamations of extra billions being poured into the NHS all are in fact just another horrible fraud.

NHS England has split England into 44 areas, and forced each area to create emergency plans to cut costs via so-called efficiency savings of over £20 billion for the remainder of this parliament.

It’s Hunt and the Government who are ultimately responsible for these cuts, certainly not giving the NHS what it needs and squeezing budgets so hard as to force big slashing of services.

The current wheeling out of government Sustainability Transformation Plans for the next five year’s funding and restructuring, in the short term can make matters worse and will not achieve their good proposed aims without adequate up-front funding and proper public and staff consultation.

If cows could fly?

Heated Commons clashes have seen Health Secretary Hunt forced to admit his claim of an extra £10 billion for the NHS – more than the £8 billion requested - is mythical and only after the big “painful” cuts in overall health budgets quoted above.

This admission came after five senior MPs – including two Conservatives – accused him of misleading the public about the extra funding being put in.

Led by Dr Sarah Wollaston, the Conservative chairman of the Commons Health Committee, the five wrote to the Chancellor urging ministers to abandon the “incorrect” £10 billion claim.

Wollaston also has now quit Brexit over its ‘false’ NHS claims and stated that she would not back down in the growing dispute, highlighting the harsh effects of cuts to public health and the “serious crisis in social care”.

PM May compounded this whole funding fraud further by boldly repeating in recent PMQs the whole claim about the extra £10 billion.

Also, nothing concrete has yet emerged about the further savage cuts of some £28 millions to be made to Somerset County Council’s coming 2017-18 budget, on top of big cuts (40 per cent plus) already enforced by Tory government over recent years and now bleating that there must be another sizeable increase in Council Tax to pay for the crash in social care.

Where does this leave us poor suffering patients and hard working NHS and Council staff in saving the NHS and its now urgent link to community elderly care?

ALAN DEBENHAM
Taunton