Dozens of MPs have signed a joint letter, organised by a group that aims to hold leave campaigners to their pre-referendum promises, which calls on the government to uphold the most infamous Brexit promise of all – £350m more a week to be spent on the NHS.
The letter, signed by 41 MPs, mainly from Labour but also some Liberal Democrats and Caroline Lucas of the Greens, demands that the chancellor, Philip Hammond, make the pledge in his autumn statement a month from now.
The £350m pledge was a key element of the Vote Leave campaign’s promise to voters, billed as money that would be saved after leaving the EU which could instead go to health spending.
In the wake of the 23 June referendum many leading pro-Brexit figures began to distance themselves from the idea, a process highlighted in a new Vote Leave Watch video to accompany the letter.
Last month it emerged that a successor group to Vote Leave, Change Britain, had not included the pledge among its aims.
The letter, addressed to Hammond, noted that the chancellor’s speech to the Conservative party conference earlier this month said that “the message of the referendum result had been ‘received, loud and clear’ by the government”.
The letter continued: “We accept the verdict of the British people. Yet it is clear that, if this mandate is to mean anything, it must include the single most visible promise of the leave campaign – spending £350m more a week on the NHS.
“In just under a month you will present your first autumn statement. We are calling on you to commit to increase national NHS spending by £350m a week – that is £18.2bn a year – as soon as this money becomes available by leaving the European Union. This additional funding must be over and above the amount that is currently planned to be spent on the National Health Service.
“Anything else will be a betrayal of the wishes of the British people. We challenge you, when you stand up in the House of Commons on 23 November, to show us the money and commit to Vote Leave’s promise; or explain why you cannot, and why your cabinet colleagues so cynically misled the British people.”
Chuka Umunna, the Labour MP who chairs Vote Leave Watch, said the message to Hammond was that “this Brexit government will not be able to run away from the promises of Brexit campaigners”.
Umunna said: “He has a month to work out how the government are going to find the money to keep this promise. If he can’t his pro-leave colleagues will have to explain why they misled voters during the campaign and are now breaking their promises.”
The full letter and signatories
Dear Chancellor,
We believe in a Britain with an excellent, well-funded public sector that provides a world-class service to the British people, pays its hard-working staff well and treats them with respect.
This was the vision of Britain promised by your cabinet colleagues who campaigned for a leave vote in the EU referendum. Vote Leave promised that, if Britain left the EU, £350m a week extra would be spent on the NHS. They travelled the country in a bus which said: “We send the EU £350m a week, let’s fund our NHS instead.” In the press conference suite at their London headquarters, a large sign read: “Let’s give our NHS the £350m the EU takes every week.”
The foreign secretary, the secretary of state for international trade, the secretary of state for the environment, the secretary of state for transport and the secretary of state for international development all appeared in photo opportunities featuring these messages. They made a very clear promise to the British people, and it is clear that a very large number of people believed this promise.
In your speech to Conservative party conference earlier this month, you said that the message of the referendum result had been “received, loud and clear” by the government. Members of the government talk of the “mandate” from the voters for Brexit.
We accept the verdict of the British people. Yet it is clear that, if this mandate is to mean anything, it must include the single most visible promise of the leave campaign – spending £350m more a week on the NHS.
In just under a month, you will present your first autumn statement. We are calling on you to commit to increase national NHS spending by £350m a week – that is £18.2bn a year – as soon as this money becomes available by leaving the European Union. This additional funding must be over and above the amount that is currently planned to be spent on the National Health Service.
Anything else will be a betrayal of the wishes of the British people. We challenge you, when you stand up in the House of Commons on 23 November, to show us the money and commit to Vote Leave’s promise; or explain why you cannot, and why your cabinet colleagues so cynically misled the British people.
Yours sincerely,
Chuka Umunna, Chair of Vote Leave Watch
Tom Brake, Patron of Vote Leave Watch
Norman Lamb, Patron of Vote Leave Watch
Emma Reynolds, Patron of Vote Leave Watch
Rushanara Ali
Ian Austin
Adrian Bailey
Kevin Baron
Tom Blenkinsop
Ben Bradshaw
Dawn Butler
Vernon Coaker
Mary Creagh
Stella Creasy
Julie Elliott
Chris Evans
Mike Gapes
Lilian Greenwood
David Hanson
Carolyn Harris
Tristram Hunt
Graham Jones
Stephen Kinnock
Peter Kyle
Caroline Lucas
Holly Lynch
Seema Malhotra
Conor McGinn
Alison McGovern
Ian Murray
Melanie Onn
Toby Perkins
Bridget Philipson
Rachel Reeves
Gavin Shuker
Ruth Smeeth
Angela Smith
Owen Smith
Wes Streeting
Anna Turley
Phil Wilson
John Woodcock
MPs urge chancellor to honour leave campaign"s £350m NHS promise
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