Farage calls for end to funding NHS through taxes - but fails to say how it should be paid for

Nigel Farage has called for an end to the NHS being funded through taxes, but refused to say how it would be paid for instead.

The Reform UK leader sparked fresh fears that patients would be charged for accessing the health service if he won a general election, arguing the current model “does not work”.

In an interview on the eve of the local elections, Mr Farage said: “I do not want it funded through general taxation. It doesn't work. It's not working. We're getting worse bang for the buck than any other country, particularly out of those European neighbours.”

Pressed on the remarks by Sky News, Mr Farage stressed that he does want the NHS to remain “free at the point of delivery”. He added that “it is how we get there” that Reform is looking into.

“Where Starmer is out of touch and Labour are out of touch on this as many other issues, most people out there in the real world know the NHS isn't working,” Mr Farage added.

Labour has consistently attacked Mr Farage over his plans for the NHS, with Sir Keir Starmer repeatedly claiming Reform would charge patients if it was in power.

At PMQs on Wednesday, the prime minister said a vote for Reform “means a vote to charge for the NHS”.

And, seizing on Mr Farage’s latest comments, health secretary Wes Streeting said: “Nigel Farage has said the quiet part out loud: he doesn’t want a publicly funded NHS.

“With Farage’s plans to leave people paying over a grand for an A&E trip only one thing is clear - patients would be worse off under Reform.”

Mr Farage’s plans for the NHS have been one of Reform’s biggest weaknesses.

Responding to the repeated criticism from Labour, Reform last month posted on social media that it will “never charge you to use the NHS”.

But it has so far refused to set out how it would fund the service if not through general taxation, which currently makes up the vast majority of the NHS budget. Just 1 per cent of the Department of Health and Social Care budget in 2023/24 came from patient charges for services such as prescriptions and dental treatment, according to the King’s Fund think tank.