Because the Conservative party has been in power for over a decade.
The NHS is a relatively large expense for the taxpayer so it upsets the “MORE TAX BAD” crowd and the poor exploitation opportunities inherent in a newly private healthcare sector excite the rich arsehole that are likely to be Conservative party donors.
I don’t think it’s a risk in the short term because it would be general election suicide but it’s been boiling away under the surface the entire time.
The strategy is very similar to enshittification: just keep cutting as much as you can, and propping up private alternatives (and paying those with public funds to “help out” the publicly owned institutions you’ve been under-funding). Never ever keep the public wages competitive, or the staff levels reasonable. Deny every advancement that would make working for the good of the public the reasonable choice.
Keep robbing from the public coffers and giving the contracts to profit driven companies like that for a generation or two, and wouldn’t you know it? The public system is in shambles, and barely worth paying for! May as well not bother with it.
Because the Conservative party has been in power for over a decade.
The NHS is a relatively large expense for the taxpayer so it upsets the “MORE TAX BAD” crowd and the poor exploitation opportunities inherent in a newly private healthcare sector excite the rich arsehole that are likely to be Conservative party donors.
I don’t think it’s a risk in the short term because it would be general election suicide but it’s been boiling away under the surface the entire time.
The strategy is very similar to enshittification: just keep cutting as much as you can, and propping up private alternatives (and paying those with public funds to “help out” the publicly owned institutions you’ve been under-funding). Never ever keep the public wages competitive, or the staff levels reasonable. Deny every advancement that would make working for the good of the public the reasonable choice.
Keep robbing from the public coffers and giving the contracts to profit driven companies like that for a generation or two, and wouldn’t you know it? The public system is in shambles, and barely worth paying for! May as well not bother with it.
PS. it’s annoying but it’s worth the struggle. It just sucks that it has to be a struggle.