Anas Sarwar accuses Nigel Farage of 'disastrous' plan to end NHS as he reaches out to Reform voters

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Anas Sarwar has accused Reform UK leader Nigel Farage of backing “disastrous” plans to replace the NHS with an insurance system.

The Scottish Labour chief said voters would reject any model that required patients to pay for their operations and treatment.But he also said he understands why people are moving to parties like Reform and insisted he would not turn his back on them: “My door is open to every single Scot.”Reform are growing in support in Scotland and a recent poll estimates they could return 15 MSPs at the Holyrood election.

Farage’s right-wing, anti-immigration party is taking votes off the Tories but Labour insiders concede they are also eating into their support.Speaking to the Record, Sarwar took aim at Farage’s repeated support for ditching a health system free at the point of need for everyone.The MP said recently: “I was given almost pariah status for suggesting the NHS model isn’t working.

I haven’t shifted my position. We’ve got to identify a system of funding for healthcare that is more effective than the one we have currently got, and at the same time carries those who can’t afford to pay.”He also said over a decade ago: “I think we’re going to have to think about healthcare very, very differently.