Election debates are hotting up between the Conservatives and the current Labour government and the NHS is one of the top issues. This week, two thirds of Tories voted in favour of a tax relief on private health insurance compared to only 1 percent of the Labour Party, and 5 percent of the Liberal Democrats. But the issue has created even further problems within the Conservative party over the future of the NHS, as leader David Cameron has been a longstanding supporter of the health service. The shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley has said that the opposition party want to make sure that high quality healthcare services are available to people but it seems the Tories disagree on how this will be achieved.


A further two-thirds of the 150 Conservative MP’s who took part in the ComRes poll said they were in favour of people being treated partly on the NHS and partly privately paid for. This is something that is currently available to private health insurance customers who choose to top up their NHS treatment. If the Conservatives come into power at the next election, the income tax relief for private health insurance could encourage more people to enquire into quotes for health cover and take out policies. But this will depend on whether the Tories go for this option, rather than on Cameron’s current proposal to increase NHS spending above inflation, despite the government having to make inevitable cuts across the board as it attempts to pay off the country’s huge debts in the coming years. But Chancellor Alistair Darling told the Scotsman, "Tax breaks for private healthcare would take money away from the health service and undo the real progress we have made with the NHS over the last 12 years."