LONDON: British finance minister George Osborne announced a 2 billion pound annual increase in healthcare spending on Sunday, seeking to counter political attacks on his Conservative party's handling of the health service six months before an election.
The National Health Service (NHS), which provides free healthcare at the point of delivery, is highly valued by voters and an issue on which opinion polls show Prime Minister David Cameron's centre-right Conservative party traditionally lag their main rivals, Labour.
Osborne sought to address that on Sunday by promising more funding for the service ahead of a budget update on Wednesday, which is expected to form his pitch to voters to back his party's plans for more austerity.
"This is a down payment on the NHS's own long-term plan, and it shows you can have a strong NHS if you have a strong economy," Osborne told the BBC.
The NHS in England costs more than 100 billion pounds per year, or around a third of all annual spending by government departments, and is under increasing financial strain as the country's population ages.
When Osborne took office in 2010, as part of a two-party coalition with the Liberal Democrats, he sought to forestall criticism on the NHS from Labour by protecting the service's budget from deep cuts to reduce an 11 percent budget deficit.
Last month NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens said the service faced a 30 billion pound shortfall by 2020/21, which could only be met in part by cost reductions. He said at least 8 billion pounds of extra government funding was needed.
Labour finance spokesman Ed Balls criticised the plans, saying it was unclear where the money would come from. His party has promised an extra 2.5 billion pounds of NHS spending, which Balls said on Sunday would be in addition to Osborne's increase.
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