Nigel Farage has tried to fend off claims that Reform UK would force people to pay to see a doctor

Nigel Farage has tried to fend off claims that Reform UK would force people to pay to see a doctor.

In an interview this morning ahead of big rally the party is holding in Birmingham later, Farage claimed that he had always been committed to healthcare being “free at the point of delivery” – even though in the past he has said he would be “open to anything” in terms of reforming the NHS funding model.

The NHS is something we believe in, or we used to believe in, but now doesn’t work, and everyone knows that.

Well, they’re paying already. They pay through tax.

They’re two different things. I’m not asking people to pay to go to the doctor. We’ve never said anything other than healthcare should be provided free at the point of delivery.

Only if they can afford it. That’s the point. Only if they can afford it.

At the moment, they pay for their healthcare through taxes. Is there a better way of doing this?

The French do it much better with less funding. There is a lesson there. If you can afford it, you pay; if you can’t, you don’t. It works incredibly well.

Nigel Farage’s plan to make hard-working families pay eye-watering sums to get treatment when they’re sick is enough to send a shiver down the spine of the nation. Everyone deserves a world-class health service, not just the wealthy.

Labour is investing in the NHS, Farage would cut it and give the money to the wealthiest. Labour is bringing waiting lists down, Farage would send them soaring. Labour is giving people their NHS back, Farage would give them a bill.

If Reform brought in an insurance-based system, comparable international systems show that patients could be left paying over £120 for a GP appointment, with an A&E visit potentially setting people back by upwards of £1,300. Routine operations like hip replacements could cost an eyewatering £23,000.