Hard-working doctors and nurses from the EU are fundamental to the NHS. We all have loved ones whose lives have been saved through their skill and dedication.
But today, the full extent of the Tories’ contempt for our dedicated doctors and nurses was revealed.
Even though the NHS is critically understaffed, the Tories have revealed that part of their nightmarish Brexit plan is to charge EU nurses and doctors £464 to come to the UK to save lives.
If this isn’t bad enough, the Tories also want EU workers to pay what they euphemistically call a ‘health immigration surcharge’.
What does this actually mean?
It’s a £400-a-year tax they will charge all EU workers – including NHS nurses and doctors – to access basic health services.
And if hard-working, low-paid NHS staff can’t afford the Nurse Tax, the Tories will take it out of their wages.
To recap:
- The NHS is critically under-funded and under-staffed due to chronic under-investment by the Tories.
- In response, the Tories want to charge the EU nurses and doctors to come to the UK, then make them pay a huge tax to access the same services they deliver.
We cannot let this happen.
The Tories’ plans couldn’t be further from the fair and welcoming society that the Liberal Democrats are fighting to build.
On Day 1 of a Liberal Democrat government, we will stop Brexit and use the funds from the £50 billion Remain Bonus to invest in the critical frontline services the NHS desperately needs.
Our hard-working nurses and doctors should be celebrated, not charged to save lives. And what kind of government would charge sick nurses to use the same hospitals they work in round the clock?
We must stop the Nurse Tax. To do so, help us to stop Brexit and build a better future.