Calls are growing for Labour to explain what private healthcare donors expect in return for more than £200,000 given to senior figures, as pressure builds over the party’s direction on the NHS.
The controversy centres on Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who has emerged as one of Labour’s most prominent voices and, according to some inside the party, a future Prime Minister in waiting.
This year it was revealed that Streeting had received the highest total donations from individuals and organisations linked to the private healthcare sector.
Since then he has faced repeated questions about whether that level of financial backing influences his approach to the NHS.
Streeting has long suggested he wants to “open the door” to greater private sector involvement in the health service.
He recently ruled out adding VAT to private healthcare, a decision critics say gives significant financial advantage to those who can afford to pay for treatment.
The debate widened further when it emerged that Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour’s Health spokesperson, had been lobbied by a private healthcare company seeking to discuss the delivery of eye care services for NHS Scotland.
The SNP says it is concerned that policy is being shaped without transparency, and that the public deserves to know whether the donations come with expectations attached.
SNP MSP and registered NHS nurse Clare Haughey said the events of the week had exposed deep uncertainty within Labour about its own health policy.
“This week we have seen utter chaos within the Labour Party with briefings and u-turns on a daily basis,” she said.
“At the centre of it all was Health Secretary Wes Streeting being touted as a successor to Keir Starmer as Prime Minister.”
She said that anyone being positioned as the next leader of the country should be able to answer clear questions about their financial support.
“The would-be next Prime Minister has serious questions to answer about what his donors are getting in return for hundreds of thousands of pounds of donations,” she said.
Haughey added that Scottish Labour also faced scrutiny.
“Are Jackie Baillie’s plans for the NHS driven by patient care or lining the pockets of investors?” she asked.
The SNP argues that its focus remains fixed on strengthening the NHS in Scotland.
Ministers point to what they describe as record numbers of appointments, a reduction in waiting lists, and continued investment in GP recruitment.
Just this week, the Scottish Government announced additional funding to increase ambulance staffing ahead of winter pressures.
“The SNP will always believe in the founding principle of the NHS that patient care should be based on clinical need, not the ability to pay,” Haughey said.
“Can Wes Streeting and Jackie Baillie say the same?”
While the storm around donations continues to build, the wider question remains unchanged.
At a moment when the NHS faces its most serious challenges in decades, the public is being asked to trust that political decisions are being made in the open.
The SNP says transparency is the price of that trust, and that Labour must now provide it.
