3 days ago
Britain ‘becoming a national health state' under Reeves
Britain is becoming a 'national health state' under Rachel Reeves, with treatment poised to account for half of all public services spending by the end of the decade.
Analysis by the Resolution Foundation said the Chancellor was presiding over a 'major reshaping of the state' that will pave the way for more tax rises after she boosted NHS budgets in the spending review.
The Left-leaning think tank said the health service was on course to account for almost £1 in every £2 of all day-to-day Whitehall spending by the next election. This is up from a third in 2010 and a quarter in 1999.
Health accounts for 90pc of the extra public service spending over the next three years at the expense of other Whitehall departments, the Resolution Foundation said.
This includes defence, which saw a much smaller increase in its day-to-day spending budget, although investment spending for tanks, planes and military bases saw a much bigger increase.
The think tank warned that this trend had led to 'shrunken public services elsewhere'.
It noted that while real, per-person funding for health was set to increase by 36pc between 2009 and 2029, spending on prisons and the courts would fall by 16pc while housing and local government budgets were on course to fall by 50pc over the same period.
British families are already on the hook for the equivalent of £1,550 of tax rises after October's record £40bn raid by the Chancellor.
But Ruth Curtice, the chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, said people faced more pain in the coming months.
She said: 'The spending review was a huge deal as the Chancellor set out details of nearly £300bn of extra spending over the second half of the [current] parliament. But as the dust settles a few clear winners have emerged.
'The extra money in this spending review has already been accounted for in the last forecast. But a weaker economic outlook and the unfunded changes to winter fuel payments mean the Chancellor will likely need to look again at tax rises in the autumn.'
Ms Reeves has been accused of sacrificing police and defence spending in favour of a record NHS handout, with households now facing higher council tax bills to pay to keep their streets safe.
Treasury documents revealed that the Government was already forecasting a 5pc increase in council tax each year until 2028, meaning an extra £395 for the average B and D band properties.
Ms Reeves's plans also show that total non-defence investment will suffer cuts on average for the rest of this parliament.
