Tory MP Daniel Kawczynski wants tax breaks to encourage people to ditch the NHS in favour of private healthcare.

In a written parliamentary question Daniel Kawczynski last week asked  Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond whether the Treasury would “take steps to encourage the uptake of private health insurance to relieve pressures on the NHS”.

He received a reply yesterday from Treasury minister Elizabeth Truss. “In the UK, the NHS ensures that any individual or family has access to the high-quality health care they need irrespective of their ability to pay….The government is clear that it considers it important that everyone has access to suitable insurance at the right price. However, we do not intervene in non-compulsory insurance matters. It is up to individuals to decide whether to take out private health insurance.”

Private medical insurance companies, including BUPA, have claimed that an increase in the tax in Insurance Premium Tax from 6% in 2015 to 12% in 2017 have caused some people to return to the NHS from the private sector.