#Ace Posted June 17, 2018 Posted June 17, 2018 A Tory MP has labelled claims a "Brexit dividend" will help fund a cash injection for the NHS as "tosh", with Theresa May's pledge of more money for the health service coming under scrutiny. The prime minister said the NHS will receive an extra £20bn a year in real terms funding (once inflation is taken into account) by 2024, an average increase of 3.4% every year for the next five years. But the government's decision to link part of the extra money to the infamous Vote Leave pledge to spend the money Britain sends to European Union on the NHS instead has provoked much comment. The totemic claim - widely questioned by experts during the 2016 referendum - that we send £350m a week to the EU formed an integral part of the Brexit campaign's clarion call to "take back control" from Brussels. Mrs May told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show: "Some people may remember seeing a figure on the side of a bus a while back of £350m a week in cash. "Well, I can tell you what I am announcing will mean that in 2023-24, there will be about £600m a week in cash, more in cash, going into the NHS." While many have welcomed news of the extra money, critics - including some within the PM's own party - poured scorn on the "Brexit dividend" characterisation, saying there was no such thing. They argue the economic damage of leaving the EU will far outweigh any money we save in payments to Brussels. One Tory MP was particularly scathing in her assessment, labelling the claim "tosh". Sarah Wollaston, who is chair of the health and social care select committee and a former GP, said it "treats the public as fools". She added: "Sad to see Govt slide to populist arguments rather than evidence on such an important issue. "This will make it harder to have a rational debate about the 'who & how' of funding & sharing this fairly." Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, also dismissed the term in a series of tweets: Labour's shadow housing secretary John Healey told Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme: "This isn't a pledge that's credible if the prime minister can't show how it's being funded. "Claiming some bogus Brexit dividend is clearly something that doesn't exist - and she's only saying that because she's got her arm twisted up her back by her Cabinet Brexit hardliners." There have also been calls for more details on how the pledge will be paid for.
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