It was with dismay and anger – though not surprise, given Wes Streeting’s lack of support for a publicly provided NHS – to see that the new hospital programme initiated under the Tories will not go ahead (Half of new hospitals promised by Boris Johnson will not be built for years, 17 January). My local district hospital, the most remote in mainland England, serves a population of about 170,000 (which can more than double in the summer) scattered across a wide rural area and there are plans to bring it up to modern standards. Some of the work has started, but now it seems its future is uncertain.
And all because Streeting and his fellow ministers are still in thrall to the economic orthodoxy of the last 40 years – an orthodoxy which has seen the impoverishment of our society, a massive increase in inequality, a massive increase in poverty and homelessness, and a massive sell-off of public assets and services. In 1942 John Maynard Keynes said: “Anything we can actually do, we can afford.” Margaret Thatcher turned that on its head, and we have Rachel Reeves channelling her handbag economics with: “We can only do what we can afford.” Why can our politicians not learn from history? It is an absolute truth that the government is only constrained in its spending by the actual resources available, and as sovereign issuer of currency, it is not limited in its spending by taxes or issuing bonds.
Spending on infrastructure and public services is investment in the people. Restoring the original ethos of the NHS, reinstating local services and fixing our struggling hospital estates are essential if this government has any intention of improving local economies.
Netti Pearson
Ilfracombe, Devon
• Here is a superb opportunity for some of the largest corporations in the UK to demonstrate their corporate social responsibility. If they can do it for museums and stadiums, why not prove their commitment to the society without which they would not exist? How about establishing sponsorship programmes supporting NHS infrastructure projects to replace crumbling hospitals, outdated equipment and lack of staff? Think: the Diageo diagnostics centre, the Google roof, Aramco air conditioning, Shell scanners, British American Tobacco respiratory units, Nvidia nurse bursaries etc. Millions of your present and future investors, employees, clients and customers will become NHS patients at some point, and would benefit hugely. So come on, guys – make your name a legend in your corporate lunchtime!
Ann Eastman
London
• Your article on Oxfam’s report on the rising wealth of the world’s billionaires made clear that we are living in a second gilded age (Wealth of world’s billionaires grew by $2tn in 2024, report finds, 20 January). Yet instead of Rockefellers, Vanderbilts or Carnegies building libraries and universities, we get an announcement of further delays to the 40 promised new hospitals. If there are insufficient funds in the government coffers to replace Britain’s crumbling infrastructure, perhaps some of our UK billionaires could build a hospital or two?
Brandi Leach
Cambridge
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