Conservatives closing the gap on reform

[Pinkponyclub3]

Any conservative supporters here ?
Recent reports say the gap on reform is closing
Having watched some clips of kemi in action,I was quite impressed
But I don't know much about the party having never voted conservative,
Have they more of an insight in to current feeling than labour?

Most of the savings will come from a reduction in obesity related illnesses - Type 2 diabetes, heart conditions etc.

It is true that smokers contribute in tax - far more than those who over eat. But while it was true to say 40 years ago that the smoking revenue v cost of dealing with smoking related illnesses was pretty finely balanced, it is no longer the case. 40 years ago, lung cancer would kill quickly at around the age of 60-65 at the end of an economically active life and usually after children had become financially independent. So little or no burden on the state. Advances in cancer treatments have changed that. People with lung cancer expect and receive expensive treatment for 3-5 years which prolongs their lives and costs money. So the balance has shifted.

The cost of treating smoking related illnesses is still half the revenue from tobacco, however you dress it up. Still no evidence of that 30% then?

Nice things like free health care

Nice things……

The recruits in the war were so unwell it was one of the reasons for setting up the nhs. So the country could defend itself with people who could actually fight.

Nice things..

Quick Google says:

Tobacco duties raise significant revenue for the UK, estimated at around £8.1 billion for 2025-26

Smoking-related illnesses cost the UK economy billions annually, with estimates around £15-£17 billion total societal costs, including roughly £2.5 billion for the NHS in England for treatment, plus significant losses from lost productivity, social care, and fires, highlighting a massive financial burden beyond just healthcare.

It doesn't really matter anyway, except for doing a cost-benefit analysis for smoking cessation programs: and the benefits aren't only financial.

If the NHS is to survive, it needs to remain universal. That includes not excluding illnesses where lifestyle increased risk.

Nice things. Free health care for all of us no matter our ability to pay is a nice thing to have. Its a luxury.

Healthcare for only those that cannot afford it is a necessity.

If you care about your children or grandchildren then number 2 will be the way forward.

Taxpayer funded healthcare for all is absolutely a huge luxury, which has been available in very few countries, for a very small part of human history. It's a luxury which we put a high value on, and I very much hope our children and grandchildren will continue to have access to it.

Healthcare for only those that cannot afford it themselves isn't a necessity. In fact, I don't think that's ever existed anywhere. There have been charity hospitals, but I don't think they were ever comprehensively available, or an entitlement.

I can't imagine the population accepting that such a significant amount of our GDP - funded through general taxation - was used for healthcare that wasn't available to the people paying tax to fund it.

If the NHS stops being universal, then it ends - and we go back to people paying for healthcare themselves when they need it (like most of the world, and most of history)

People can’t afford private dentists. How are they supposed to afford private healthcare?

On the UK’s shit wages?

Tax funded healthcare isn’t a luxury. It’s unbelievable that anyone in this day and age comes out with this kind of nonsense. My parents’ generation must be spinning in their graves.

Well there is that. Labour have got a whole lot more people on benefits so as an awful lot more of us are now sucking from the teat of the state in some way, I suppose our kids and grandchildren are screwed.

No it’s because they are paid shit wages.

Nothing to do with benefits.

Of course universal health care for absolutely everyone no matter their ability to pay is a luxury. A luxury this country cannot afford.

In October 2025 we paid £8.4billion in debt interest alone. I rather think your parents generation would be more likely to spin in their graves over this....that generation were a bit better at living within their means....

Im just thinking how we can sort out the people who can pay for themselves and whether they are on benefits would be a useful marker.

Unfortunately Labour have encouraged more people onto benefits. Perhaps soon 100% of the population will be on benefits given Labour's economic strategy. So it will be a moot point as no one will be earning any money at all.

Agreed

It’s not a luxury. It’s a necessity for economic health. A population that’s too sick to work means a failing economy. It’s astonishing that this even needs to be articulated.

Which of the World's current top five economies have a completely "free" healthcare system like the UK? Most, if not all, other successful economies manage without a healthcare system like the NHS!

The question is are we healthier or struggling? It doesn’t seem to be promoting healthier behaviour.

And still spend more per capita on healthcare.

Exactly. I think some people are living in the past and haven't realised what has happened to this country.

I mean, that is a really good point. The NHS doesn't seem to be improving health these days given how many people are going on benefits for health reasons.

We can afford some tax-funded services - including universal healthcare if that's our priority - but with an annual budget deficit of £131 billion and growing we clearly can't afford everything that some seem to consider a necessity (and which most people through most of history have not had )

Not without burdening our children with paying it for us anyway:

When Gordon Brown boasted that he had ended Boom and Bust - and we all believed that we'd enjoy eternal economic growth - then borrowing was a reasonable (ish) strategy, since we would grow our debt away. Now it's simply intergenerational theft.

So we have to prioritise. That's pretty much the job of government: to negotiate different wishes from different groups in society.

The best system would work on behaviour and lowering requirements. We don’t have that.

I think in your astonishment you've missed the point again.

Healthcare is a necessity. Free healthcare for everyone (the relevant word being "free" which of course it isn't really) is not a necessity.

There are a lot of thriving economies where free healthcare is not universally accessible.

Where are they?

This names the countries without it. The US is the only first world country not to provide it.

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/10-notable-countries-that-are-still-without-universal-healthcare.html

Exactly. I don’t know what’s happened to MN these days. It’s full of confident assertions that turn out to be utter bollocks with a modicum of research and apparent amnesia about which party was in power when various events happened. Then there’s the pure fantasy. It’s just gaslighting.