To ask you to choose between the NHS and subsidising energy bills?

[PersonaNonGarter]

We all know that our DCs are going to be paying off all of this government borrowing until the end of time. The country’s in debt and Liz Truss is about to borrow more.

So if you had to choose, would you borrow more for the NHS?

YABU - the NHS has enough, deal with energy crisis
YANBU - the NHS is the priority always

If we don't deal with the energy crisis more people are going to be living in poverty and therefore needing more healthcare and the NHS will continue to be overrun anyway. We'll also still have a shortage of doctors and nurses. The NHS doesn't have a quick fix.

Our energy producers are set to make £170 billion in profit over the next couple of years.

So I think you're asking the wrong question.

We shouldn't have to choose between the NHS and helping people with their energy bills. We should be asking why we are in this situation when companies are making obscene profits.

Disingenuous.
You are presenting a narrow binary when it doesn't need to be.

Exactly.

Yabu. The NHS is not underfunded funded. It's very badly managed.

It isn’t one or the other.

Other countries do this (cheaper energy, better healthcare) better than we do - why?

If we don’t put a stop to the energy crisis there will be even more pressure on the NHS over the winter.

The NHS will always be a priority but in the short term the energy crisis is absolutely horrific. Anyone who isn't a millionaire will be affected by it but at present I consider myself to be fortunate. I won't be able to save as much money for my nest egg but my fridge will still be stocked and there will be petrol in my car. When I read on here about parents stressed up to the eyeballs because they literally won't be able to feed their children or heat homes for their babies my heart breaks for them. I think suicide rates will be through the roof... and yet energy providers are profiting more than ever. Why is this allowed to happen??

I don't want the government to keep giving money to people to deal with the energy crisis....all it's doing is using public funds to subsidize the profits of the energy companies.

This.

^ this.

@PersonaNonGarter this feels like a deliberately inflammatory post.

Are you a journalist trying to find your next headline?

To everyone saying this is a disingenuous question - so what?

Presumably you know how money works. You can’t spend it twice. So if you have a £1 to spend is it going on NHS or on the energy crisis?

Are you a journalist trying to find your next headline?

No - I am a taxpayer wondering about bottomless pits.

No it’s not a straight choice. Neither the energy crisis nor the state of the NHS has to happen, let’s be a little more ambitious and expect more out of 2022 & beyond. (No saying it’s easy, but there is so much more that could be done if only the Tories and their elite cronies wanted to)

I have reported the op and voted YABU - meaning the op is unreasonable.

Both energy and the NHS need sorting.

Do you wonder about bottomless pits when large corporations, and Tory best friends, get away with not paying tax?

I didn't think OP was disingenuous, I thought she was being hypothetical, but her response has made me wish I hadn't bothered responding because now I think she's posting out of some kind of spite rather than wanting a sensible discussion.

I'd sure like to have some of that Test and Trace cash back, to do either.

It isn't an either or situation. I am sick of being given false choices like this by the government. We need to do both.

Some the responses here are bizarre. Difficult financial decisions are going to have to be taken.

Ok, I wasn’t expecting a thread of economics geeks but so many people seem to reject the idea that public funds might be finite.

So much money is wasted and badly handled in the NHS , I wouldn’t be giving more that way.

All "DCs" are always paying of government borrowing. Our DCs, DCs will be paying just as we are for what happened in our parents and grandparents time. Either you have very limited knowledge about basic economics and government, or are a goady shit stirer - or both

why is there even any comparison?
the care home crisis is a major stumbling block for the patients blocking beds in the nhs
care homes need heating
carers need paying
medicine is so very advanced now that people dont accept lack of treatment.

are you against the imminent pay rise for the nhs op@PersonaNonGarter

Here is an idea. tax the energy producers hard on their insane profits. Use this money to freeze the cap on energy prices. Oh wait the tories don't want to do this. I wonder why. Is it because many very wealthy people are shareholders?

The energy crisis is hammering the NHS too.
Sorry I don't know solutions.

Good thing would be Targetted help for key institutions & poorest households, I guess, but this will be very imperfect too.

For me, the trade-off decisions were made back in 2020-21 each time govt decided to lock down, or maybe back in 1990s when decisions were made not to home-grow enough health care professionals, or maybe in Cameron-Osborne years and every other year Tories were in power and ran public services on a shoestring. Shall we blame Labour for PFI and how expensive that made NHS? How about blaming every govt since 1980s for today's social care crisis? How about the constant protesting against fracking & dithering about investment in nuclear power (Gordon Brown approved expansion of nuclear power in 2009 but Tories never actioned that): total lack of recognition that energy security was important and any dependence on bad actors (#1 = Russia) was bad : yes I have moaned about this for at least 15 years !!

Or Brexit voters for making social care crisis much worse. Lots of people made today happen.