My £1.5bn plan to clear the waiting list backlog will rescue our NHS after 13 years of Tory neglect

KEIR STARMER ON HIS BOLD VISION ON EVE OF LABOR CONFERENCE

- MIKEY SMITH and JOHN STEVENS

KEIR Starmer today unveils his £1.5billion plan to salvage our ailing NHS after the ravages of 13 years of Conservative rule.

In an exclusive interview, the Labour leader sets out a bold vision to create an extra two million appointments a year with patients seen in NHS hospitals by NHS staff.

He says: "The NHS at its best represents the very best of Britain but does anyone truly believe that's still the case after 13 years of the Tories?

"There is still so much to be proud of, especially the dedicated staff committed to serving it, who we owe so much. But it is precisely because we love the NHS that we are so determined to reform it for the future."

Under Mr Starmer's plans, cashstrapped doctors and nurses will be offered generous overtime in a bid to restore the service to its former glory.

And his rescue mission will be funded by clamping down on tax breaks for the super-rich.

But while tax-avoiding non-doms will lose their loophole and private schools will pay VAT on school fees, Mr Starmer is not planning any rise in income tax, national insurance or VAT for ordinary workers.

RADICAL

"We're not planning tax rises," he says. "We're planning economic growth. I'm convinced that the way out of the failure over the last 13 years is not pulling the tax and spend levers, it's pulling the growth lever. And that's what we intend to do.