David Burrowes MP

Conservative Party | Enfield Southgate

GOVERNMENT SPIN EXPOSED BY MP

David Burrowes unearths real extent of NHS funding in Enfield Southgate through Parliamentary Question to Secretary of State for Health.

Following on from his question to Tony Blair on 27th June in which Mr Blair implied that £1.7 billion had been spent on new NHS services in Enfield Southgate, David Burrowes MP asked a question of the Secretary of Health to specify the type and location of the local facilities and schemes which had received this investment.

The answer received from the Department for Health was that of the £1.7 billion which Mr Blair indicated was spent in Enfield Southgate, only £54 million was actually spent locally and this was in the redevelopment of Barnet General Hospital in March 2002.

David Burrowes said: “When Tony Blair answered my question on 27th June he replied that £1.7 billion had been spent in ‘the hon. Gentleman’s area’. Naturally I took this to mean in Enfield Southgate. However, this answer has exposed the true extent of Government spin. The £1.7 billion has been spent over the last 7 years across the whole of London’s Strategic Health Authority.”

“Considering the proportion of the £1.7 billion that was actually spent in Enfield Southgate, the answer to this Parliamentary Question highlights the lengths to which the Government will go to in implying that it spends more money on a particular area than it really does. I am pleased that the record has been set straight on this and that the Government cannot take unnecessary credit for investment in Enfield Southgate.”

David Burrowes’ question to Tony Blair on 27th June 2007

David Burrowes’ question to the Secretary of State for Health and the answer